Wrong Side Of The Tracks
by kt2785
Summary: Kate and Jack have been friends forever, but she's always secretly been in love with him. It's going to be both Jate and Skate. OK...so there's more discription inside, but please please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok…so I was watching Dawson's Creek the other day and I thought that Dawson reminded me so much of Jack it wasn't even funny. So I'm writing a fic based on that. Remember this is just AU…all in good fun. And I definitely don't own Dawson's Creek or Lost.**

Kate lived with her aunt and uncle Rose and Bernard. When she was 13 her mom died of cancer, and that same year her dad was sent to jail. She lived right down the street on the other side of the train tracks from her best friend Jack. Jack had always been almost like a brother to her.

Kate was staring at the ceiling in Jack's bedroom. She had been secretly falling for him. She put her hands to her face and flipped over to face the wall. Jack had gone downstairs because his mom wanted him to take out the trash. She always thought that sounded so cliché. Even if the trash did need to be taken out it was the way Margo would say it. 'Jack! Honey! Can you and Kate put what ever you're doing on hold and take out the trash?!' 'Yeah mom! I'll be down in just a second'. Aunt Rose and Uncle Bernard never had such lame tasks for her to do. She had to vacuum or feed the dogs.

"Are you ok Kate?" Jack's voice said behind her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. I think I'm gonna go home."

"Kate you can't"," he shook his head. "We still haven't played monopoly…y'know our game and movie night?"

Kate cocked her head and realized how lame that sounded too. They had been doing their game and movie night every Friday night since they were 7. Now they were almost 16...she thought that the time for fun and games was over.

"Wow, that really sounded lame didn't it?" Jack chuckled.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," she answered. "Look-Jack, I should really-I just-I can't spend the night tonight?"

"Why?" he asked. "You always spend the night on a Friday. And then we make pancakes in the morning. We've been doing it since we were 7 Kate."

"I know!" she exclaimed, slightly exasperated. "But things are different now. I just-"

"How are things different?" he asked. "Because we're older? I mean I thought that you of all people were way more mature than that."

"I'm just tired," she said again. "I'm gonna go home."

"Fine," he sighed. "But you have to be back at 10 tomorrow. Sawyer's coming over and we're going to-"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Go spy on the new neighbor. I don't know what you see in her Jack, she's not even that hot."

"I'm not gonna spy," he sighed.

"What would you call it?" she laughed. "You and Sawyer sitting on the porch pretending that you're reading, or playing poker or whatever, while little miss high maintenance sunbathes on the front lawn. It's called a restraining order Jack…get used to that word in your vocabulary. I mean she doesn't even know you exist. And all this time you spend pining after her…Jack it's just gonna end in heartbreak. A girl like that. She could never go for a guy like you."

"Thanks a lot Kate," he scoffed.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't-I just don't want to see you getting hurt, and I'm afraid that's what will happen if you get too involved."

"Thanks for the worry," he said seriously. "But I think I'll be alright. It's not every day that you can have your heart broken by such a gorgeous woman."

"God," Kate shook her head. "She's not even that hot."

"Are you kidding me?" he said. "Kate, she's a goddess. You just don't see it because you're a straight woman."

"I can still have appreciation for a hot chick, and believe me, she's nothing special," she shrugged. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sawyer was their other friend. Except for Kate didn't exactly like Sawyer. Jack and Sawyer had been friends since diapers. Sawyer always teased Kate that if Jack ever had to make a life or death choice between him and Kate, he would have to choose Sawyer because they had known each other for longer. In fact Sawyer teased Kate incessantly. One time she asked him if the reason why he teased her was because he liked her and she got laughed at. She hated Sawyer, but she dealt with him so she could hang out with Jack.

The next morning Jack and Sawyer were sitting on the front porch waiting for Kate to get there. But actually mainly waiting for the new neighbor to come out of her house and come introduce herself.

"I don't get it," Jack shook his head. "I mean she just left. In the middle of the movie too. I don't-"

"Jack," Sawyer chuckled. "Open your eyes man…she's totally got it bad for you. And you talkin' about the new girl…it's got her all frazzled. She's insanely jealous."

"No way," he answered. "No…this is Kate. I mean come on. We've been best friends forever. We've slept in the same bed 9 years. She's not in love with me."

"Maybe not," he replied. "But have you ever tried just asking her?"

"I did, she just said she was tired," Jack said.

"Oldest trick in the book," he responded. "She just wants to jump your bones Jack. She can't help herself. You just said it…9 years of repressed horniness."

"You're really just asking for it," Jack scoffed. "Look, there she is."

"Kate?" Sawyer asked, looking up the bike path that Kate always took to get to Jack's house.

"Shannon," Jack answered. Sawyer looked toward where Jack was looking and watched a skinny blonde walking out of her house wearing her bathing suit. She was holding a folding lawn chair in one hand and a book in the other. She sat down in the middle of her front yard and began reading her book.

"She doesn't even know I exist," Jack mumbled.

"Well then lets just change that Jack-o," Sawyer stated.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, slightly panicking.

"I'm gonna go over there and talk to her," Sawyer answered.

"No!" Jack exclaimed quietly. "You can't."

"Watch me," Sawyer replied. "You gotta take some chances in life Jack. She's just a girl…I mean she's a hot girl, but you can't be afraid to speak to hot girls all your life. And what about Kate? She's been sleeping in your bed for 9 years like you said…you have no problems talking to her…and she's a girl. Pretty easy on the eyes."

"Yeah, but she's Kate," Jack said.

"Thanks Jack," Kate scoffed, but was smiling. She tried to pretend what Jack had said didn't bother her because she knew that he was just talking, but she couldn't help but feel a slight sting of rejection.

"Hey Freckles," Sawyer said. "I like that you don't wear make-up to hide those things. Damn…I think more sprouted up over night."

"Shut up," she scoffed. Sawyer walked away from her and toward the new neighbor. She sat down next to Jack, in Sawyer's spot and sighed softly. "Where's he going?"

"He's gonna go embarrass the hell out of me and talk to Shannon," Jack answered.

"I don't get why it's such a big deal," she shook her head. "I mean if some stud-whoa."

In the middle of Kate's sentence a guy walked out of the house. He had nice arm muscles and was beginning to walk straight toward them. Kate shifted uncomfortably next to Jack and he let out a soft chuckle.

"What's the problem Katie, I thought it was no big deal," Jack said.

"Hey there," the mysterious stranger stated holding out a hand.

"Hi," Kate answered with a smile.

"You the neighbors?" he asked.

"Jack is," Kate nodded, still slightly nervous. "I live down the road."

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"Kate," she answered with a smirk.

"I'm Boone," he replied holding out his hand. Kate took it and smiled at him.

Sawyer walked toward Shannon and stood in front of her. She kept reading and barely even acknowledged him. He waited where he was for her to say something to him first.

"Do you mind?" she asked. "You're in my light."

"Sorry," he stated, moving out of the way of the sunlight but still looking down at her.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Came over here to introduce myself to ya," he answered. "Name's Sawyer."

"Good for you," she responded. "Do you want a cookie for being such a good boy and knowing your name."

"I was hoping for a different type of reward," he replied. "Y'know like a smile, and you telling me your name."

"My name is Shannon and I'm reading so can you shut up and let me concentrate," she answered giving him a faux smile.

"Good enough," he smiled widely, hoping for a reaction from Shannon. She shook her head, rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book. He raised his eyebrows and walked back over to where Jack and Kate were sitting. Kate was sitting on the ground and looking up at a new person. She was smiling widely, and then let out a chuckle. Sawyer had never thought anything much of Kate. She was a pain in the ass, and she always had to tag along and talk about her boy problems. Jack had never had a girlfriend and he wasn't bellyaching about it. But watching her smile like that, he never noticed just how gorgeous she really was.

Sawyer was a ladies man. He had a rough childhood, complete with two dead parents. He lived with his Grandma and older brother, Desmond. He swore that his brother was gay and always teased him. Many fights were started in the Ford household over his brother's sexuality. He was definitely a charming guy so all the girls fell at his feet. Getting asked out by Sawyer Ford was almost like getting some kind of award in the tiny town.

"Hey," Boone said noticing Sawyer walking toward them. "You bothering Shannon?"

"I sure tried," Sawyer chuckled.

"Good," he answered. "I can't stand her."

"Really?" Sawyer asked with a smirk. "That why you've been watching her since she came out here."

"My mom married her dad. We don't really get along, unless we absolutely have to," he responded. "So…me and Kate were just talking…we're going to the movies tonight. Do you guys wanna come?"

"Can Suzie Sunshine come?" Sawyer asked. "Cuz Jack-o here…"

"Shut up Sawyer," Jack said.

"It's ok," Boone chuckled. "Dude, I saw you watching her from inside. Everyone kinda falls at her feet. I don't know why…she's a royal bitch. But y'know I guess she's pretty."

"Pretty?" Jack asked.

"Oh don't get Jack started on Shannon's looks," Kate said sarcastically. "She's a Goddess…she's gorgeous…an ice cream flavor should be named in honor of her."

"I've never said that," Jack argued.

"I'm surprised," Kate mumbled. Sawyer stared at Kate, and knew that she definitely was completely jealous of Shannon…and not in the way where she was itching for attention. She was just plain jealous because she wanted Jack to look at her that way.

"If we're going to the movies I'm gonna get changed," Kate said softly. "I don't want to wear shorts in the freezing theater. And I'm also not really interested in watching you guys drool all over Shannon."

Kate walked over to her bike and picked it up. She didn't notice Sawyer watching her but Jack did. Sawyer watched Kate ride off, and more specifically looked at her bum. Jack smacked Sawyer hard in the arm and glared at him.

"Don't," he said.

"Hey," Sawyer said defensively. "Just because you can't see how drop dead gorgeous she is don't mean the rest of us can't enjoy the view."

"Sick Sawyer!" Jack exclaimed. "She's like a sister to me…and since you're like my bother…she's your sister too."

"Only we don't really like each other," Sawyer argued.

"So anyway…do you want me to ask Shannon for you Jack?" Boone asked.

"Y'know what?" Jack said standing up. "Screw it…the worst she can say is no. And Sawyer already talked to her…I'll do it."

"Good luck Jack," Sawyer scoffed. "She shot me down before you could say 'Would you like' --as in would you like to go out with me."

Jack started walking toward Shannon. He tripped slightly right before he reached her, but caught himself, and hoped that Shannon didn't notice. She looked up from her book and let out a chuckle.

"Somebody's got two left feet," she said, with a laugh.

"This is so humiliating," he mumbled softly.

"I'm Shannon," she said sweetly.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I know. I mean-not that-I just-your brother."

"Ok," she interrupted. "Rule number one…Boone…he's not my brother. He's my step brother. Second of all calm down. Just take a deep breath and ask me whatever you want to ask me."

"How come you weren't this nice to Sawyer?" Jack asked.

"Way too cocky for me," she shook her head. "He thought that I would just fall at his feet…I like a man who's a little nervous around me."

"Ok," Jack chuckled. "We're all gonna go to the movies tonight…you wanna come with me."

"Sorry, can't," she answered.

"Oh," he mumbled. "Alright. See you around."

"Well wait," she said with a smirk. "What time are you going?"

"I dunno 9:00?" he asked.

"I can come then," she responded. "I guess I'll see you tonight."

"Ok," he said with a soft sigh.

The group of them were walking to the theater from Jack's house. Shannon was walking close to Jack with her hand intertwined in his. She was staring at them, but just at their hands. Boone was walking slightly ahead of everyone else. Even though there had only been innocent flirting, if you could even call it that, Kate almost wished that he was hanging on her like Shannon was hanging on Jack. But then she realized that even if Boone was all over her, Jack wouldn't notice.

"Hey Kate," Sawyer said putting an arm around her shoulder, annoyingly. "Ever heard of a hairbrush?"

Kate had her hair up in a messy bun, and even though all the other girls in school wore their hair the same way, whenever Sawyer got the chance, he would try and make fun of her for one reason or another.

"Get off of me," she scoffed and shoved him away.

"I think your hair looks pretty that way," Boone said, grabbing Kate by the hand and pulling her toward him. She breathed in deep and smiled.

"Thanks."

When they got into the theater Kate sat down between Jack and Sawyer. She was about to sit next to Boone, but Sawyer squeezed in and forced her to choose the spot between him and Jack. Jack and Shannon continued to flirtatiously look at each other and touch each other. Kate was still jealous and didn't know how to react so she turned toward Sawyer. She knew that Jack would never be jealous of Sawyer.

"Sawyer," she whispered.

"Shh, watch the movie," he said pointing to the screen., which was blank because the movie hadn't actually started yet…the trailers for new movies hadn't even started. She knew that he was just trying to be stupid. She had no idea why he teased her so incessantly. She had asked him once when they were 12 if he had a crush on her and that's why he teased her because she knew that was one of the signs, but he laughed so hard at her she didn't know if she'd ever live it down.

"First of all _James,_" she said, knowing that he hated his real name. He had gone by Sawyer since they were 10, Kate never really knew where the name came from, but Jack did. Jack refused to tell anyone, because he had promised Sawyer he wouldn't.

"Don't call me that _Freckles_ or we're really gonna have some problems," he stated back, with his teeth clenched.

"Fine," she sighed. "Anyway I was just going to ask you if you would please please switch spots with me?"

"Why?" he asked.

"I want to sit next to Boone," she answered.

"He ain't gonna notice you tonight Freckles," Sawyer said gently. "But alright."

Kate gave him a small, but grateful smile and he and Kate switched seats. She looked at Boone and smiled widely. He smiled back and took her hand in his.

The movie had been on for 30 minutes and Kate looked past Sawyer, over at Shannon and Jack, who weren't watching the movie at all. They were practically sucking each other's faces off. She scoffed loudly and as disturbingly as possible got up. She bumped into Sawyer hard enough to make his arm slip off of the arm rest and hit Jack. Jack looked up and so did Shannon. All 4 of them watched Kate leave.

"That was weird."

"I should go talk to her," Jack whispered.

"Oh come on," Shannon shook her head. "She'll be fine. Boone will go get her."

Boone nodded, stood up and went after her. No one noticed that Sawyer had already gone after her. When Boone got into the lobby he saw Kate sitting on a bench with Sawyer. She had her head down. It looked like Sawyer wanted to comfort her, but was almost too afraid to touch her. He bent down and whispered something in her ear. She sat up and let out a chuckle.

"She'll probably give him some horrible disease that will make him completely impotent," Sawyer whispered into her ear. She couldn't help but chuckle and smile. She sat up and looked at him. He looked at her with a soft smile.

"If you ask me, Shannon probably can't even kiss," Sawyer said softly.

"Don't make things worse," she mumbled, smiling again.

"You love him don't you?" Sawyer asked.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I just don't really enjoy going to a movie and getting a damn side show with little miss perfect."

"Kate," Boone said, approaching them. "Let's get out of here huh? We can go back to my place."

"Sure," she sniffled sarcastically.

"Come on," he stated with a smile. "Let's go. It's a boring movie anyway. And I'd really like to get to know you. We can forget all about Shannon and Jack."

He held out his hand and Kate took it. Sawyer watched them leave and felt a sting of jealousy. He shook the feeling off and watched a cute woman walking through the lobby of the theater. She was being followed by a man and kept jerking her arm out of his grip.

"Leave me alone Tom!" she exclaimed. "I don't want to hear it."

"Stop," he said. She jerked away one final time and Sawyer followed her. She looked like she was ready to cry. Sawyer pushed the man away from the woman.

"I think she said to leave her alone," Sawyer stated. "You ok."

"Yeah I'm fine," she said.

"Hey," Sawyer smirked. "What's that accent from?"

"Australia you dumbass," the man that Sawyer could only assume was Tom.

"He bugging you?" Sawyer asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" he questioned. "I can chase this guy away."

"Actually," she smiled. "On second thought…sure. Can you walk me home?"

"Yeah," Sawyer nodded. "I'm Sawyer."

"Claire," she answered, and shook his hand. They walked out of the theater together.

As Boone and Kate walked back to the house Boone kept putting his hand on her lower back. At first she liked it, but it was becoming slightly uncomfortable since she had just met the guy. They went up the steps to his house. Boone pulled Kate toward him and kissed her lips.

"Boone," she mumbled. "What are you doing?"

"I'm kissing you," he said forcefully. He picked her up and kissed her again.

"Boone don't," she stated.

"Come on," he whispered into her ear. "You know you want to. You're upset over Jack and Shannon. They're gong to have sex tonight. Shannon is a slut, she'll get him to give in."

"Stop," she shook her head. He kissed her again and pushed her down on the couch. She shook her head again and moaned. "Boone don't. Please. Get off of me. You're hurting me. Don't! Stop!"

The more she fought the harder he held her down. She started sobbing and then stopped fighting. She thought maybe if she stopped fighting it wouldn't hurt as bad. He pulled her jeans down and she breathed in deeply.

"Boone," she whispered. "Stop."

"You want me Kate," he said into her ear. "I know you do. I could tell by the way you were looking at me."

"No," she shook her head and sobbed.

"Leave her alone," Jack said softly. "Get the hell off of her!"

Jack punched Boone hard in the jaw, and he fell off of Kate. Kate sniffled and quickly stood up and pulled her jeans the rest of the way up. She pushed past Jack and Shannon and ran from the house. Sawyer and Claire were standing in the room too. They all knew what they had walked in on. Claire didn't even know Kate, but she had her mouth covered with her hands. She looked up at Sawyer for some sort of comfort and he was looking outside toward where Kate was walking.

"Shannon," Jack started. "I gotta go see if she's ok."

Shannon nodded and frowned down at Boone who was still on the floor. Sawyer finally looked at Claire, who looked scared. He sighed softly and put his hand against her cheek.

"I'll take you home now," he whispered. Claire nodded and Sawyer smiled at her weakly. He walked over to where Boone was still sitting on the floor holding his jaw. Sawyer grabbed on to Boone's shirt and pulled him into a standing position.

"If you ever go near her again," Sawyer said.

"I-I'm sorry," Boone shook his head. "I don't know what happened."

"You tried to rape her, that's what happened," Sawyer scoffed.

Kate walked briskly down the front steps and then ran to her bike path. She always called it hers because she was the only one who ever really used it. She focused only on getting home. She wrapped her arms around herself and started walking as quickly as she could without running. She heard footsteps behind her and knew it was Jack but she still refused to stop. The footsteps behind her quickened and Kate shook her head.

"Go away Jack!" she exclaimed. "I can't-I can't do this tonight. Just leave me alone."

"Kate," he said softly, catching up to her and grabbing on to her arm. She groaned as he grabbed her arm and he lifted her sleeve carefully. There was already a small purple bruise beginning to form. Jack knew that it would only get bigger and darker tomorrow.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"What do you think?" she sniffled and wiped her nose. "I really just want to go home and crawl into bed."

"It's a good thing we came home when we did," he said softly. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine," she answered smacking his hand away from where he was going to reach up and touch her face. "Go back to Shannon."

"Kate," he said. "Just tell me what's going on. Why were you so pissed at me for kissing Shannon?"

"You barely know her!" she exclaimed. "And you were making out at the movies. Remember…we make fun of people who spend 9 dollars to go make out! You-you just don't get it. Bye."

"Kate wait," he whispered. "I just want to know what's happening with us."

"You really really want to know?" she asked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"And you promise not to make fun of me?" she questioned. "Promise not to laugh in my face?"

"I wouldn't do that Kate," he shook his head.

"I think I'm in love with you," she sighed. "There…now you know and now we can't ever be friends again. Leave me alone."

Kate walked quickly away from Jack, down the bike path. Part of her wanted Jack to follow her and grab her into the best kiss…well the only kiss of her life. But the other part just wanted to be left alone.

**A/N: PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to my awesome reviewers. I hope you still continue to read and review!**

After Jack ran after Kate, Sawyer looked at Claire who was still distressed over watching Boone attack her. Sawyer held out a welcoming hand and gave her a sympathetic hand. She took it and let him guide her out of the house. The first 5 minutes of the walk to Claire's was almost completely silent, aside from the occasional cough or throat clearing. Sawyer kept reaching for Claire's hand again and again, but each time he chickened out.

"You ok?" Sawyer whispered.

"I'm fine...shouldn't you be asking that question to Kate?" she asked. He stopped walking and looked at her. She stopped walking too and turned toward him. "I'm sorry. I'm such a jerk. I know that you were worried about her too. I just-it was so scary. I don't even know her, but I wanted to go after her and see if she's alright."

"I think Jack was the right person to go," Sawyer shook his head. "I mean-she wanted it to be him…even if she thinks that she just wants to be left alone."

"Thanks for walking me home Sawyer," she stated. "We should do it again sometime…y'know…with out all the scariness."

"Sure thing Blondie," he said softly. "Like maybe a real date?"

"I-uh-well-the thing is Sawyer, I-I can't really be dating right now," she answered. "I mean-I have so many other things in my life-"

"Oh like what?" he asked. "The 10th grade? Come on…you already doing college prep?"

"Well…yes actually," she nodded. "But there's something else. I just can't really-I want to wait for another day to tell you. I need to get to know you better. There's just some things I have to figure out before I go jumping into a relationship."

"Whoa who said anything about a relationship?" he chuckled. "I just wanted to go out on a date. See where it takes us."

"Yeah," she smiled. "But I need to just-take things really easy…get to know you first."

"But how are we going to get to know each other if we don't go out? You had the night off tonight…I'm sure we can swing a day next week."

"I'll ask my mom," she whispered.

"Claire!" a harsh voice yelled from the front steps of the house. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Tom," she shook her head. "Don't. Not right now. Just-go back inside. Let me say goodnight to Sawyer."

"Hmm," he nodded. "Does he know that you have responsibilities Claire? You can't be making out on our front porch. What if-"

"Ok!" she exclaimed. "I'll be in in a second."

"No, now," he replied. "Say goodnight."

"Goodnight Sawyer," Claire mumbled and went into the house, with Tom guiding her inside. Tom gave Sawyer a dirty look and then came down the front steps.

"Claire has a lot going for her," he said. "She can't have some guy clouding her vision. So I'm asking you…if you care about her at all…you'll stay away from her."

"Care about her?" Sawyer scoffed. "Dude I just met her tonight. I don't even know her. She seems like a good girl and a fun person to be with…and y'know another thing. I'm pretty sure she's old enough to make her own decisions. She doesn't need her big brother trying to protect her and keep her away from the bad guys."

"You have no idea," Tom shook his head. "And you don't know me, I'm not her brother…I'm her boyfriend."

Sawyer walked away from the house and looked back hoping that Claire was still looking out the window watching him. It was true that he had just met her, and for once he didn't want to just have meaningless sex with her. He wanted to get to know who she was.

Jack watched in awe as Kate walked away from him. How could she be in love with him? How could Sawyer of all people be right? He started walking after her and she started walking even faster. He could hear her sobbing and didn't know if she was crying because of her confession or crying because what happened with Boone. And he didn't really care. He continued after her and caught up to her.

"Jack," she sighed and sobbed. "Don't. Please…just don't."

"Are you serious?" he asked. "You're-I mean you just said that to shock me so that I would leave you alone. That can't be the real reason. We've been best friends forever. Don't you remember when your mom would tease us, and tell us we were going to end up married?"

"Yeah," she mumbled. "We would say that they were crazy. You're right Jack. I just-I just really want to be alone. As my best friend…just this once can you leave me alone?"

"Sure," he whispered and stepped toward her. She shook her head as he went to hug her. "Best friends are allowed to hug…I just want to know that you're ok."

"I'm fine!" she sobbed. "I'm fine. I just want to go home!"

She ducked her way away from him and ran the rest of the way home. When she got there Rose and Bernard were gone. She knew that they had gone out to dinner, and was thankful that they weren't back yet. She walked into the bathroom and carefully took off her shirt. She had a bruise on her arm that was sore. She touched it lightly with her fingers and then turned the water in the sink on. She washed her face with cool water and then started rubbing harder with her hands. She let out a frustrated grunt and then quickly turned on the water to the shower. She turned it on as hot as it would go and stepped inside. The water was hot, and at first it felt good, but then it just started burning her. But she didn't care. She stayed in the shower until her skin was very red and her fingers were wrinkled. She got out of the shower and wiped the mirror off from the steam that the much too hot water had created. She looked at her face in the mirror and then walked away. She walked back into her room, got dressed in her pajamas and flung herself on the bed. She was more upset now about Jack, than she was about what happened with Boone. She hated that she told Jack she loved him, but she hated more that he hadn't believed her.

The next day Sawyer, Jack, and Kate were supposed to go to the beach. There was a party going on that everyone was going to be at. Kate hadn't wanted to go in the first place, and now she really didn't want to go. She was sitting in her room reading a book, trying to forget about everything. Rose had asked her if she was feeling well, and Kate tried to play it off like she was just tired from staying out late. She heard a soft knock at her door and looked up. Jack was standing in front of her wearing his swim suit and a t-shirt.

"You coming or what?" he asked.

"Jack," she sighed. "I don't want to-I'm just-I don't want to go. After everything that happened last night-it's just-"

"Boone won't be there. Shannon assured me," he smirked.

"Shannon will be though?" she asked. "You invited Shannon?"

"What did you want me to do Kate?" he asked. "I mean she asked me what we were doing today and…she doesn't really know anyone here yet and I thought it would be the perfect time to…I dunno…let her meet people."

"You go on ahead," she mumbled. "I'm just gonna stay here."

Jack sighed softly and stepped toward her. When he saw her flinch he sighed again and left the room. He looked back a few times, seeing if maybe Kate would have a change of heart, but he had a feeling that she really just wanted to be alone.

* * *

When Sawyer woke up in the morning he got ready to go to the beach. He called Claire and invited her, but she said she didn't really want to go, but that she did want to come over and explain what happened with Tom the previous night. Sawyer waited anxiously on his front porch. When Claire came through the clearing she was wearing a white sundress. Even though she wasn't close yet, she looked gorgeous and Sawyer got butterflies in his stomach. She arrived at him and smiled.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi," he answered.

"Look, I just-I'm so sorry about last night," she started. "Tom is-he comes on a little strong. He did want what was best for me, but he can't control me anymore."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Sawyer asked, remembering what Tom had said last night.

"Is that what he told you?" she asked. "No…he's not my boyfriend. "I'm not going to lie to you Sawyer…he was. I mean-he was my boyfriend, but he's not anymore. He's here visiting me, but he's going to leave tomorrow."

"If he's not your boyfriend then why is he visiting you?" he asked, slightly confused. "I guess that's really none of my business. I'm sorry. I mean it's not like _I'm_ your boyfriend. I just-I don't like the way that he was talking to you. I haven't even spent an entire day with you yet, and I can already tell that you're a great girl. And you make me-"

"Are you blushing?" she asked with a large smile. "Sawyer it's ok. I like you too. That's why all of this is so hard. I don't want to keep things from you…or lie to you. I just-I need some time."

"Ok," he nodded, he looked at his wrist, checking the time, although he didn't have a watch. "Ready? And go? I'm timing you Blondie."

She let out a laugh and took his hand in her own. The way that he was smiling at her, was definitely making it even harder for her to say no.

Jack walked the mile and a half to Sawyer's house. Sawyer was sitting outside with the pretty blonde from the previous night. Everything happened so fast that Jack hadn't even met her. He walked toward them, and heard Claire laugh and watched as she took Sawyer's hand in hers. Sawyer lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. She stood up and walked down toward Jack.

"Hey," Jack said stopping her.

"Hi," she nodded.

"You leaving?" he asked.

"Yeah I gotta get home to my s-Tom. He's a friend of mine staying with me," Claire said.

"Oh, well a bunch of us are going to the beach today if you two wanted to join us," Jack offered.

"Thanks, but-I burn easy," she answered. "But I'm gonna be going to school in the fall. I'm sure there will be plenty of more parties that I can not go to."

"Party pooper?" he asked. "Why wouldn't you want to go to parties?"

"Not really my scene," she shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I feel like there's much better ways to spend your weekends then drunk on your ass."

"Good point," Jack nodded and smiled. "Ok…well then I guess I'll see you around."

"K," she smiled back and walked away. Jack walked toward Sawyer and sat down next to him.

"She's cute," Jack said softly.

"Hey, back off…she's mine," Sawyer said with chuckle.

"I don't want her," Jack shook his head.

"Yeah yeah, we all know…you want Shannon," he answered. "Speaking of pining away where's Freckles? She was supposed to come...I mean she said yesterday that she was coming."

"Nope," Jack shrugged. "She decided not to. I didn't really have a whole lot of time to try and convince her either because I told Shannon we were meeting there at 2:30."

"What is wrong with you man?" Sawyer asked. "That's exactly why Kate said she wasn't going to come. You invited Shannon?"

"I-" Jack began. "Not more of this 'Kate's in love with you'. Shannon finally noticed me and she actually seems interested. I'm not going to ruin it just because you all think that Kate's in love with me."

"Whatever Jack," Sawyer scoffed.

They were all standing around the party. Shannon had a drink in her hand. Jack didn't think it was the best idea to be drinking at 3:00 in the afternoon, but Shannon insisted that she was fine. She and Jack were dancing and she leaned toward him and kissed him. He kissed her back and they stood in the middle of the party making out.

"Get a room," Sawyer mumbled under his breath, too softly for them to even hear. He walked across the room and bumped into none other than Kate. She was drinking too and hanging over a guy that Sawyer recognized as Tom. He walked quickly toward them and looked at Kate. Tom handed Kate another drink and she chugged it.

"Alright, enough beer for the tiny girl," Sawyer said.

"Sawyer!" she exclaimed. "I love you Sawyer. You're always so good to me."

She flung her arms around his neck and he chuckled softly. He pushed her off of him and took her cup from her.

"So how many of these have you had Freckles?" he asked.

"Um-6?" she said in a question form and held up 8 fingers.

"Ok," he stated. "Time for you to leave."

"Katrina is this guy bothering you?" Tom asked.

"Katrina?" Sawyer asked. "First of all her name is Kate, and secondly no I'm not bothering her…I'm just a friend…unfortunately."

"Sawyer you never let me have any fun!" Kate whined. "Gimme my drink back."

"I thought that I was always so good to you Freckles," he said with a smirk.

"I didn't mean that," she shook her head. "You always make fun of me...you...you...stupid man."

"Nice come back for the 9 years I've been torturing you," he chuckled. "Come on...let's get you back to your little house, where you can puke in peace."

"No!" she exclaimed shoving him away from her. "I want more beer."

Tom handed her another full cup and Sawyer tried to take it but Tom guided Kate away from him and walked with her down the beach. Sawyer took a deep breath and walked toward where Jack and Shannon were still standing. They had stopped kissing, and had moved on to grinding to the music. Shannon definitely had some nice dance moves, unlike Jack, but Jack still seemed to be having a great time.

"Jack, we gotta get Kate out of here," Sawyer said.

"Kate's not here," Jack retorted.

"Actually, she is," he said pointing down the beach to where Kate was now standing very close to Tom. She seemed to be backing off of his kiss, but he wasn't giving up and continued to try and kiss her.

"Kate's a big girl," Jack shrugged.

"You really want her making out and going home with a total stranger?" Sawyer asked. "You claim to be her best friend Jack…how 'bout acting like it."

Sawyer walked away from Jack, quickly toward Kate. He arrived at Kate and Tom and she was saying no over and over again, but her body language was saying something totally different, so Tom was obviously confused.

"Back off Romeo," Sawyer said.

"Sawyer," Kate sighed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm saving you from a little embarrassment Freckles," he answered.

"We're having fun, right Freckles?" Tom asked. "I like that nickname…you're totally a Freckles."

"Hey!" Sawyer exclaimed, stepping between Tom and Kate. "I'm the only one who's allowed to call her that. She'll even tell you!"

"He's right," Kate mumbled drunkly. "But it's kinda cute when you say it."

As Jack watched the interaction between Kate, Tom and Sawyer, he realized that Sawyer was absolutely right. Kate was drunk and she would probably end up doing something she regretted. He was her best friend after all, so he headed down the beach.

Tom pushed his way between Sawyer and Kate, and Sawyer quickly pulled him away and punched him in the face. Kate looked slightly surprised and then fell to the ground herself. Her eyes were still opened, but she was definitely shocked at what just happened. Jack ran toward her and knelt next to her.

"Kate," he whispered.

"Jack," she slurred. "You saved me, thank you…you're my hero."

Sawyer scoffed softly and rolled his eyes. It pissed him off that Kate hadn't even acknowledged him, but then he remembered that's probably how Kate feels when Shannon is around Jack.

Sawyer and Jack both helped Kate to her feet and they began walking home. Each of them were on either side of Kate helping her stand. They were both thankful that she hadn't fully passed out yet, but Sawyer was confident that he could carry her back home. Although it was almost 2 miles.

"So what made you change your mind?" Sawyer mumbled.

"You were right," Jack shook his head. "She's my best friend. I should start acting like it."

When they got back to Kate's house Sawyer made sure that the house was empty. Jack helped Kate into her room and laid her down on the bed.

"Hey," he whispered. "I know that you're not going to remember any of this. I know you're confused about us, and frankly so am I. Since last night when you confessed your love, and then took it back by the way. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. You made me confused too. I guess if you had to suffer, you figured I should too huh? Anyway. I know everything will work out."

"Jack," she said softly. She leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He kissed back, and then quickly backed away. She rolled over and closed her eyes. Jack left the room completely stunned. Sawyer stopped in front of him and looked at him slightly confused.

"What's up?" he asked quietly.

"We should get going," Jack answered.

Jack and Sawyer lived in opposite directions of Kate's house. Their houses almost formed a perfect triangle. Sawyer turned toward the direction of his house and began walking. Jack started walking toward his house, and then turned back around and walked toward Sawyer.

"What's up?" Sawyer chuckled, before Jack could fully catch up to him.

"Do you know what Kate just did?" Jack asked. "She kissed me. She said my name once and then kissed me."

"Finally," Sawyer answered. "About time one of you made the first move."

"I can't-she told me last night that she loved me," Jack said softly. "But I sorta told her that she didn't really. I shrugged it off because I didn't-I just don't know what I feel anymore. I don't understand anything."

"How 'bout you go home and think that over?" Sawyer asked. "Because I really can't take much more of this drama."

The next morning Sawyer walked to Claire's house. He was bringing her bagels for breakfast, and he was going to talk to Tom about his behavior with Kate. He knocked on the door and Claire answered it quickly.

"Hey," he said with a smile. "Breakfast? I mean I was just in the neighborhood…and you said that you wanted to get to know me."

"Come in Sawyer," Claire said softly.

"Where's Tom?" he asked, not really that interested.

"He left this morning," she shrugged. "He went back to Australia…Sawyer…y'know how I said that there's some things that I have to figure out before I start a relationship?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"I've decided that I really like you," she chuckled. "I mean…you were so good to me last night, and you understood without even questioning it that I need some time. It's exactly the kind of guy I need in my life. Wait here, and I'll be right back."

Sawyer was confused as he watched Claire run up the steps, but he stayed where he was. He rocked back and forth on his heels uncomfortably till she returned. When she came back she was holding a small bundle, of what looked like blankets, but before she got to him, Sawyer knew what it was.

"Sawyer," she whispered. "I want you to meet someone. This is Aaron."

"Hi," he chuckled and held out a finger for Aaron to take. Aaron looked at him and took his finger and put it in his mouth. "He's adorable. But so what? You have a baby brother."

"Are you really that naïve?" she asked. "I mean come on? I have responsibilities, I have to figure some things out? Sawyer, he's not my baby brother. He's my son."

* * *

When Kate woke up her head was pounding. She sat up and saw Jack standing in the corner watching her sleep. She gasped loudly and then shook her head.

"What are you doing?" she chuckled. "Watching me sleep?"

"Kate," he started. "You don't remember a thing about last night do you?"

"Only that I was drinking with some guy. I didn't do anything embarrassing did I?" she asked.

"You kissed me," he said bluntly. "You kissed me Kate, and now…I mean-I want to know what the hell it all means. Were you pretending I was someone else. Or were you just so trashed that you had no idea what you were even doing? I need to know what-"

"I told you that I loved you," she interrupted. "And you blew me off. You said that it wasn't true. I tried to tell you. I wanted-I didn't really want you to know, but it did feel better to get it off my chest. And now I'm just rambling and I wish-"

"It didn't happen," Jack finished her thought (or at least what he thought she might say). She crossed her arms and let out a soft scoff.

"Well I guess if that's the way you feel," she responded. "Just leave. Go back home to your perfect little life and leave me alone."

"Kate I don't know what to do," he shrugged. "All I know is that things were simple and then you went and told me that you loved me."

"Well I'm sorry that I make your life so incredibly complicated."

"Kate would you stop," he said walking toward her and sitting down on the bed next to her. "I just-it was a shock. I didn't-I didn't mean to upset you. I just want to go back to being friends. Before you told me you loved me, and kissed me."

"Well the kiss never happened," she answered. "Didn't happen. I don't remember it, and obviously you want to forget all about it, so there you go."

"But now we're not friends," he mumbled. "I mean you're so angry with me."

"What did you think would happen Jack?" she asked. "I'd tell you my true feelings and we'd just stay best friends-someone always gets hurt. I don't care. I just want you to leave so I can have my hangover by myself."

Before Kate could say one more word, without warning Jack pulled her into a kiss. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around him. He laid her carefully down on the bed and chuckled softly as they continued to kiss.

**A/N: Reviews? Please?**


	3. Chapter 3

Sawyer stared at the baby that Claire was holding. He had no idea how to react or what to say to her. She sighed softly and walked over to a play pen, and put Aaron down. She turned back toward Sawyer and looked at the ceiling. Sawyer could tell that she was trying hard not to cry.

"So I suppose you want nothing to do with me now," she whispered.

"Claire," he shook his head and stepped toward her. "Do you think that matters to me? Everyone has screwed up pasts…but everyone deserves someone too. And if his father isn't with you then it must be a damn good reason."

"Tom," she answered. "Thomas is his father. He started out being amazing. I was going to just-well I wasn't going to go through with it, but then he told me that he wanted to. He told me that we'd be together. We even-he moved in with me and my mum. My mum wasn't impressed and she didn't really want him to stay there, but-she thought that it was good that he was at least trying. And then one night, when my mum was out of town, I came home from work, earlier than normal…and Tom was there with some other girl. They were having sex in my bed. So we broke up. I moved here and Tom just found me."

"If you ask me, Tom is an asshole," Sawyer said touching her face gently. "You deserve way better."

"Like you," she smiled.

"Nah…you don't want me…I'm no good," he shook his head.

"Of course I do," she whispered and stepped toward him. Sawyer turned his cheek and kissed hers.

"You want to take it easy," he stated. "So let's just take it slowly. Do you think you can get a babysitter for tonight?"

"I'll ask my mum," she nodded.

"Pick you up at 7?" he asked with a smile.

"Ok," she answered. "I still gotta ask my mom if she can baby sit."

"Well," he began. "You better find someone because I'm gonna be here at 7:00 and you better be ready for me."

"Ok," she chuckled.

Sawyer kissed Claire on the cheek again and left the house. He was about half way down the steps when he felt Claire grab on to his arm and pull him back toward her.

"Sawyer, wait," she sighed. "Look, I need to ask you for a favor. I have to tell everyone else on my own time. I don't really relish going to my first day of school and have everyone already knowing that I have a kid and I'm only 16. People will think I'm a slut."

"Ok," he replied. "I promise. I won't tell anyone."

He kissed her on the cheek again and when he was out of her view he let go what he was he was really feeling. She has a kid? What the hell was he getting himself into? He didn't want that kind of baggage, but part of him, couldn't stay away from her. She was such a sweet girl. How could someone like her have a kid? He rubbed his face, and thought maybe it would be a better idea to just cancel the date right now…before too many feelings were involved.

* * *

Kate wrapped her legs around Jack's waist and continued to kiss him. He ran his fingers through her hair and rolled over on top of her.

"Jack," she whispered.

"Yeah," he whispered back, kissing her again.

"Wait," she replied.

"Ok," he said quickly sitting up and stopping. "Sorry. I know…you've been through a lot these past few days."

"I'm gonna be sick," she groaned. She got out from underneath him and ran into the bathroom. Jack chuckled softly and stood up. He went into the bathroom to find Kate's head in the toilet. She groaned softly and he put his hand on her back and held her hair.

"Don't," she mumbled. "I don't want you to see me this way."

"Kate," he laughed. "I've seen you at your best and your worst. I think I can handle holding your hair back."

"Jack," she shook her head.

"I think we should-" he started. "Talk. I mean. Kate, this is all so confusing. I wanted to kiss you…so I did. But yesterday at that party I spent my time making out with Shannon. I don't want to hurt either of you, but now I'm completely confused. I've spent a lot of time trying to make Shannon notice me and she finally does. I don't want to wreck that."

"What?" she asked. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. You're-how can you be-I don't understand. You say you don't want to hurt me, but you want to be with Shannon."

"Kate I don't know what I want!" he exclaimed. "Before last night when you kissed me…I had no real feelings for you."

"Thanks," she scoffed.

"No," he shook his head. "I mean-Kate you're so important to me. I don't want anything to happen to you, but I just-"

"You don't love me like I love you," she nodded. "Ok…I want you to get out. I just opened my heart to you and you were kissing me back! Why would you kiss me if you didn't want to?"

"Because you wanted me to," he whispered.

"What?!" she yelled. "Are you serious? You're seriously going to tell me that the reason why you kissed me was because you-ok…Leave right now!"

Jack didn't move, which was only making Kate angrier. She stood up and pushed him over. She ran into her room and slammed the door before Jack could follow her. She sunk down to the floor on the other side of her door and let out a soft sob. She didn't know if Jack was going to stay much longer, but she hoped that he would get the hint and leave. She waited almost an hour and a half before she stood back up and opened the door.

Jack was still sitting on the other side of the door. She bent her head back and sighed deeply. He stood up and encircled his hands on her waist.

"Jack," she pushed him away. "I don't want to do this. You obviously have some things to work through and figure out, so I want you to leave and you can come back when you've made a final decision. But lemme tell you something Jack. If you pick Shannon…she's going to end up breaking your heart."

"What about you?" he asked. "I know that you'd never want to deliberately break my heart, but-ok…scenario. We're together. We're really happy and we're falling deeper in love every day. Then one day, something happens. Doesn't really matter what, but we break up. For one reason or another. And then we're not even going to be friends."

"Yeah," she whispered. "I've thought of that too. But maybe-maybe we won't break up. Or if we do, maybe we can still stay best friends. Wouldn't you rather find out? Then spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been."

"I love Shannon," he shook his head. "I mean…I love you too…but what if I spend the rest of my life wondering if Shannon loves me back?"

"Ok," she sighed. "Jack, you don't love Shannon. The first time you ever even spoke to her was 2 days ago. You don't love her, you love the idea of her. The pretty blonde actually taking an interest in you. Well I hate to break it to you, but no one is going to care that you're dating the new girl."

"I don't care what other people think," he told her. "You of all people should know that. You know that I don't care-"

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Look Jack. Whether or not you love me or Shannon, or even Sawyer. I just can't do this. I need you to leave if you're going to try and figure out what you want."

* * *

At 7:00 Sawyer went up the steps at Claire's house. He went back and forth between breaking the date, and keeping it and decided that one date wouldn't hurt him. He knocked on the door and heard footsteps. The door opened and Claire was holding Aaron, who was crying.

"Hey," she said with a smile. "Sawyer, I'm really sorry. I can't go out tonight. Aaron's sick and I'm the only one who can get him to calm down, and my mom…well she told me that she needed some time off. Can we go out another time?"

"Claire," he began. "I don't-maybe we shouldn't-I don't know what I'm trying to say here. I don't want to hurt your feelings but-"

"I understand," she smiled. "I'll see you around-wait. Talk again."

"What?" he asked.

"Say something," she replied. "Anything. Just talk."

"Ok," he stated. "I think that you're a little crazy there Claire, but I guess I'll talk. I don't really know what you want-"

"Can you stay here?" she asked. "I know it's a lot to ask, but I can't get Aaron to quiet down and…well it seems like your voice calms him down."

Sawyer looked at the baby, who was looking at him, and completely quiet. He looked at Claire, who seemed to be pleading with him, without even speaking. He nodded and went into the house. They sat down on the couch and started talking. Both of their voices soothed Aaron right to sleep.

"My mom is out," she shrugged. "She's supposed to be out all night."

"That an invited Sweetheart?" Sawyer asked.

"No," she chuckled. "I just meant…we're not going to have an interruption. We can talk all night…y'know…the get to know each other thing?"

"Ok," he nodded.

* * *

Jack walked over to Shannon's house. He went to knock at the door and then heard Shannon chuckling on the other end of the door. He heard a male's voice, and thought maybe it was just Boone. He hesitated several times and then knocked on the door.

"Hold on Eric," she chuckled. "I gotta at least answer the door."

She opened the door and was standing in front of Jack wearing a skimpy dress. Her hair was slightly mussed and her make-up was smeared. There was a guy sitting behind her, and a candle light dinner. Jack looked at her and let out a soft chuckle.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh," Shannon said. "This is Eric. Eric this is Jack."

Eric got up and held out a hand for Jack to take. He placed his hand on Shannon's lower back. Jack watched Eric's hand inch lower and lower. He began kissing her neck.

"You wanna come back another time Junior?" he asked. "We're kinda busy."

"Eric get off," Shannon scoffed. Eric didn't listen, which caused Jack to lunge toward the man and knock him to the ground. "Jack! Jack don't! Eric…hold on…lemme just go outside really quick and talk to Jack."

Shannon grabbed Jack forcefully by the arm and guided him outside to the porch. She shut the door behind her and looked at Jack with her arms crossed. Jack was breathing heavily, obviously angry. He looked at Shannon and then crossed his arms too.

"Jack," she started. "I'm sorry. I just-yesterday was nice. I mean you're a great kisser, but did you honestly think that I was going to start school with a boyfriend? I don't really believe in settling down. We're only 16 Jack. We have plenty of time to fall in and out of love. And I hate to break it to you, but we've never even been in love. It was one day of fun."

"I made out with you in public," he told her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I was there remember? Y'know…you never said that you wanted anything more than a stupid date to the beach. I don't want to be with you."

Jack quickly left the house and practically ran all the way to Kate's house. When he got there he was out of breath but he knocked, before letting himself in. Kate almost always left the door unlocked, so he went inside and looked around the house.

"Jack!" Rose exclaimed, putting her hand to her chest. "You scared me half to death."

"Sorry," he answered. "I didn't mean to…is Kate home."

"Yeah, she's in her room, she's not really feeling well so I don't know if she's really up for visitors. But since it's you…I'll let you stay. At least for a little while," Rose smiled.

"Ok," he nodded. "Thanks."

Jack headed to Kate's room and knocked softly before opening the door. Kate was laying on her bed reading, but when she heard the door open, she sat bolt upright and looked at the door. Jack walked toward the bed and sat down next to her. He touched her face and pulled her into a kiss. She backed away and pushed him off of her.

"Jack," she whispered.

"You," he told her. "It's you Kate."

* * *

Claire walked down the stairs and toward Sawyer who was still sitting on the couch. She smiled at him and sat down next to him.

"He's sleeping," she whispered.

"Finally," Sawyer scoffed. "I'm gonna make a confession here Claire…when you told me about Aaron…on the way home-I was going to break this date. I didn't-I like you Claire…a lot. I just didn't really know how to deal with the fact that you're a mom. So I was going to call you and tell you that it was all off, but then I thought it would be idiotic of me to do it over the phone, so tonight I was going to leave. But then-I dunno…when you asked me to stay…I almost felt like I had to…but I'm so glad I did. You're just amazing. And you're such a great mom to Aaron."

"Thanks," she smiled. "But I do what I have to do. I mean most people would tell me that 16 is way too young to have a baby…and I guess it is…I just-I want to tell you one more thing."

"Uh-oh," he chuckled.

"I was going to give the baby up," she said softly. "I was going to give him away because I knew I could never do it by myself. I was going to give him up for adoption. And we were in the hospital…Aaron's adoptive parents were there, and I held my baby for the first time and I didn't want to let him go. They gave me 24 hours to change my mind, and like an idiot I just kept going back and looking at him and holding him. And I-I changed my mind."

"Claire," he whispered. "I have an idea."

"What?" she smirked.

"I think we're both talking way too much," he answered and leaned toward her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed softly and gently at first, and becoming more passionate. Sawyer laid Claire down on the couch and kept his lips pressed against hers. Neither of them heard the door opening or noticed the person walking toward them.

"You going for another kid?" the voice said.

**A/N: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!! Thanks! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: For those of you who are Jaters, don't worry because it's going to stay Jate for a little while. For those of you who are Skaters, don't worry because they're definitely going to have some tension. I hope that this isn't too Jatey or too Skatey for anyone. It probably will start going Skatey in a few chapters or so, but I'm still not sure if it will end Skate or not. So whether you're a Skater or a Jater I hope that you continue to read and review!**

Jack pulled Kate on top of him and they continued to kiss. Kate was breathing heavily, almost having trouble catching her breath. Jack stopped and Kate shook her head.

"Don't stop," she whispered. "I'm fine."

Jack smiled at her and went back to kissing her. Neither of them really paid attention to the fact that Rose and Bernard were still there. Kate sat up and pulled her shirt up over her head.

"Whoa wait," Jack said softly. "Kate-come on. Put your shirt back on."

"What?" she asked, and Jack handed Kate her shirt.

"Katie," he started.

"You never call me Katie," she whispered and put her shirt back on. "This is so embarrassing."

She stood up and began walking toward the door. Jack quickly got up and took her by the hand. He stepped in front of the door to force her to stay.

"Kate," he sighed. "Believe me-this is-it's just all a little fast."

"We've known each other for 9 years Jack," she told him. "We've known each other forever. I don't get what the big damn deal is."

"The big damn deal, Kate," he started. "Is that you're stripping in front of me. It's weird. I'm not used to seeing you half naked."

"What are you talking about?" she scoffed. "You see me in my bathing suit all the time. Same thing."

"It's totally different," he mumbled. "I'm so-"

"Still confused Jack?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head and touched the side of her face. "I want this. I want to try us. You're right…how are we ever going to know if we don't try."

"Yeah," she whispered.

"I just don't want to jump right into your bed," he stated.

"I don't either," she answered. "When I took my shirt off I didn't mean sex…I just-I love you Jack."

"I love you too," he smiled.

* * *

When Sawyer heard the voice he quickly sat up and so did Claire.

"Mum!" Claire exclaimed. "What are you doing home?"

"I live here," she answered. "Claire what do you think you're doing? Making out with a total stranger while your kid is upstairs screaming?"

Claire and Sawyer then noticed that Aaron was crying loudly. Claire gasped and ran up the stairs. Sawyer was left standing all alone with a very disgruntled looking woman. She crossed her arms and stared at him. He sighed softly and held out his hand.

"Sawyer," he said.

"I'm Claire's mum," she replied.

"Hi," he mumbled nervously.

"Sawyer!" Claire exclaimed from upstairs. "Can you come here?!"

Sawyer gladly stepped away from Ms. Littleton and ran up the stairs. The panic in Claire's voice almost made him nervous. He went into Claire's room, which was also Aaron's room. He looked at Claire who shook her head.

"Sawyer, I'm so sorry," she said softly. "I had no clue that she was going to come back right now."

"It's ok," he shook his head. "Believe me…I've been caught by many parents…and a couple brothers and sisters too."

"I guess you should probably go," she said quietly. She put Aaron back into the crib and he started crying again. She turned toward Sawyer and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed his lips slowly and softly.

He smiled at her and walked back down the stairs, and passed Claire's mom, who was still standing in the living room with her arms crossed over her chest.

* * *

Kate and Jack fell asleep in Kate's bed. They were both fully clothed, but neither of them meant to fall asleep. Kate was moving against Jack, trying to get comfortable. His arm was pulling her hair and she sat up suddenly. She gasped and looked down at him.

"You ok?" he mumbled.

"Jack," she whispered. "We fell asleep. It's 2:00 in the morning."

"Oh," he murmured, not even seeming to care about the fact that they fell asleep. "Lay down. Go back to sleep."

"Aunt Rose is going to kill us," she scoffed.

"Kate, we've been sleeping like this-"

"For 9 years, I know," she nodded.

"They're not even going to notice or care," he replied. She looked down at him, somewhat frowning, but then laid back down in his arms. She kissed him on the side of the face and they both fell back to sleep.

* * *

The next day Sawyer spent the day at Jack's. Claire and Kate were sitting on the porch talking, while Sawyer and Jack played catch in the front yard. Kate thought that Claire was a nice girl, but she seemed really distracted. Kate laughed softly as Sawyer threw the ball way past Jack, and Jack went chasing after it. Jack ran all the way into Shannon's yard to retrieve the ball. Shannon stepped outside right as Jack arrived in her yard. She was wearing her bathrobe, and the guy who Kate hadn't met yet came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. She could see from sitting on Jack's porch that Jack was green with jealousy. Kate sighed softly and got up.

"Kate," Claire started. "I have a question for you."

"Yeah?" Kate asked sitting back down.

"Do you know anything about Sawyer?" Claire asked.

"What do you mean?" Kate chuckled. "I've known him for a while…I think I could say that I know him pretty well."

"I mean-" Claire sighed. "Has he been with a lot of people?"

"What?!" Kate exclaimed. "I don't know! Ew. I don't talk to Sawyer about his sex life…frankly because I don't care."

"But you know," Claire shook her head. "I mean you have some sort of idea don't you? I just-I just want to know."

"I understand," Kate nodded. "But I think you should ask Sawyer that yourself. He's the only one who knows the true answer."

"You're right," she responded. "I just didn't want to start a fight, or scare him away."

"If there's one thing I know about him, Claire," Kate began. "It's that, it would probably take a lot to scare Sawyer off."

"You have no idea," Claire mumbled. Claire's pager went off and she looked at it. Kate heard her swear softly and then go into the house.

With her conversation with Claire, Kate forgot all about Jack watching Shannon. She looked up and back toward where the boys were playing catch, and then noticed that Sawyer was waiting for Jack to walk back over. Kate sighed softly and walked toward where Jack and Shannon were standing talking, well more like arguing.

"It's not like I meant for you to catch me last night!" Shannon screamed. Kate pressed her lips together, and continued to walk toward them. She got to Jack and took him by the hand.

"You ok?" Kate asked.

"Fine Kate," Jack answered.

"Oh!" Shannon scoffed loudly. "So you give me a hard time for having a date, and now you're with her?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Jack, what's going on?" Kate asked.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"No," Kate scoffed. "Tell me. I want to know what's going on with Shannon? Are you still 'in love' with her? I need to know before this all gets too serious."

"Nothing," Jack repeated.

"Too chicken to tell her Jack?" Shannon stated. "Well…then I will. Kate…last night Jack came over here. I guess to ask me where we stand. I mean…we did make out all day the other day, and as much fun as it was…I don't really feel-I don't know I was just having fun with him…I didn't know that he wanted more than that. Anyway he saw that Eric was here and got all girly on me."

"Really?" Kate asked, crossing her arms and turning toward Jack. "You said last night that you chose me. You said that it was me…but you really meant, that Shannon shot you down, so you decided to comfort yourself in me. Thanks a lot Jack. And Shannon-"

"Hey," Shannon shrugged. "Don't get mad at me. I'm sorry if I hurt your little boyfriend here, but-"

"I was going to say thank you for telling me the truth," Kate interrupted.

"Oh," Shannon replied.

Kate walked away from them and walked toward Sawyer who was standing still waiting for Jack to come back. It happened to be her baseball mitt that Sawyer was using so she quickly walked toward him. He took 4 steps back, almost scared of what Kate might do to him.

"Give me my glove!" she exclaimed.

"Whoa," he said softly. "What's going on? You alright Freckles?"

"No!" she yelled. "Just give it to me."

He handed her the mitt, and pulled it back right before she grabbed it. He was only trying to tease her and make her smile, but it only caused her to shove him over and take the glove from him. Claire, who had witnessed the outburst by Kate, walked down toward Sawyer who watched Kate begin to walk away.

"You should follow her," Claire stated. "I gotta get home. Aaron's freaking out, and my mum is all pissed that I'm spending the day out."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head and smiled. "I think I just told you that you should follow Kate. I need to go home alone."

"K," he nodded. Claire walked in the direction of her house and Sawyer ran quickly after Kate. Part of him thought that maybe it should be Jack chasing after Kate, instead of himself, but Jack was still standing with Shannon talking to her. Sawyer sighed softly. He would have gone over to Jack to tell him to follow Kate, but Kate was almost out of his line of view so he started running after her. He was thankful that his legs were so much longer than Kate's because he caught up to her quickly. He could hear her sobbing before he arrived.

"Freckles!" he exclaimed.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled back. He finally caught up to her and stopped her by placing both his hands on either of her shoulders.

"Kate," he whispered. She looked at the ground and shook her head.

"I should have known better," she sniffled. "Jack could never look at me like I was gorgeous."

"Both Jack and I have been blind," he said softly. "Freckles, look at yourself. You're one of the most beautiful women in the 10th grade. Maybe in the entire school…no…the entire town."

"Shut up Sawyer," she chuckled, sniffled, and sobbed all at the same time. "Why did you follow me? I thought that you and Claire were-"

"We are," he stated. "But Claire had to go home, and I just-I wanted to make sure that you were ok. So? Are you?"

"Yeah," she nodded and sniffled. "I just-last night-I don't know how much he told you…but last night we slept in the same bed…but it was different. Instead of sleeping on opposite sides of the bed, we slept in each other's arms. I thought it actually meant something."

"Maybe it did," he whispered. "Kate, you know Jack. He's crazy."

"I know," she laughed, but the tears were still streaming down her face.

"Come 'ere you knucklehead," he said softly and held out his arms. She stepped toward him and hugged him tightly. He ran his hand through her hair, and then backed off of her. She leaned toward him and brushed her lips against his.

"Whoa," he shook his head. "Kate-"

"I know," she nodded. "Thank you for taking care of me. If you see Jack…tell him that I don't want his comfort. I don't want to see him."

"Sure thing Freckles," Sawyer whispered. She started walking away. Sawyer watched her go and then turned back around to go back to Jack's house. Jack was walking on the path toward him. Sawyer stepped in his way and put his hands against his shoulders.

"Get out of my way," Jack said. "I need to go talk to Kate."

"Maybe you do, but you need to give her a minute. She's pretty pissed off," Sawyer answered. "And I don't want her to get pissed at me. She told me to tell you to leave her alone."

"What?" Jack scoffed. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said Jack-o," Sawyer shook his head. "She doesn't want to see you right now. I say let her at least cool off for a day and a night. You can go see her tomorrow."

"You her keeper now?" Jack asked. "You can't tell me what to do James."

"No," Sawyer sighed. "I can't tell you what to do Jack…so pretty much if you want to you can go try and talk to her right now…but I can guarantee you that she won't want to see you."

"I don't care!" Jack exclaimed.

"Yeah," Sawyer mumbled. "That's obvious Jack. You don't really care about anyone's happiness but your own."

"Go home Sawyer," Jack scoffed.

"Fine," Sawyer replied and walked in the direction of Claire's house.

Jack started walking toward Kate's house, and then decided that maybe for once Sawyer was right. Maybe he should just wait till tomorrow to visit Kate. He turned back around to go back home.

**A/N: OK…so sorry for the short chapter. I hope that you all liked it anyway. I just thought that was a good stopping point. Anyway please please review! It's much appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: OK so this chapter jumps ahead a tad. I hope that you all still like it and are ok with it. Thanks to all the reviews. I do know how I'm going to end it...if you want to know then at the end I will put it in a spoiler...just to warn you.**

Jack went back home and stayed there the entire night. It was almost midnight when he couldn't stand it anymore. He sat up and ran down the stairs. He barely heard his parents call after him. He ran all the way to Kate's house and was breathing heavily when he got to her front door. He composed himself and went to knock on the door. Before his hand could reach to knock on the door, the front door opened.

"Jack," Rose's sweet voice stated.

"Hi," he smiled. "Um-is Kate home? I really need to talk to her."

"She told me that she didn't want to see you," Rose answered. "Did you guys have a fight?"

"Yeah," Jack sighed. "It was all my fault, but I just really need to talk to her. I mean I know she's mad…but can I please…please just go talk to her."

"Alright," Rose whispered. "I can tell that you really need to tell her something, so I'll let you in…but if I hear so much as one raised voice, you're going to have to leave."

"Ok," he nodded.

He walked to Kate's bedroom and knocked softly on the door. Kate didn't come to the door. Jack didn't even hear her moving in the room at all. He decided to wait on the other end of the door till she did. He knocked again and he still didn't hear her moving.

"Kate," he said. "I know you're mad at me. I know-I just-please open the door. I need my best friend back. I'm so sorry. I just-please Kate."

The door flung opened and Kate stood in front of him. He sighed softly and looked at her. She didn't look mad, or even like she had been crying.

"Hi Jack," she said normally and turned and walked back into her room. Jack followed her somewhat cautiously. She sat down on the bed and looked up at him.

"I-" he started.

"You don't want me," she shrugged. "Doesn't matter Jack. I just wish that you hadn't waited until now. I mean, I get that you want Shannon. She's so much prettier than me, and any guy would much rather have her than me but-"

Jack touched the side of her face softly and pulled her into a gentle kiss. She didn't want to kiss him back but she did.

"You're pretty," he whispered into her mouth. "Kate you're pretty."

"Why did you do that to me?" she asked. "Why would you come here and make me your second choice?"

"I didn't," he shook his head. "Kate I didn't make you my second choice. I went to talk to Shannon last night. I was just going to talk to her, and when I got there, that guy was there…and yeah I was jealous…but when I cam toward your house…it was like I knew it was the right thing to do. I knew that I was going to come here and see you. And then I kissed you and it was like-anything that I felt for Shannon just melted away. I don't feel anything for her."

"I find that hard to believe," she frowned. "Jack…you've been drooling over her for almost a month. You even said two days ago that you loved her. How can you go from thinking you're in love with her, to feeling absolutely nothing? I mean-I guess I can appreciate what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me feel better, but it's not working. It's just making me feel worse."

"I don't love her," he shook his head. "I don't-how could I. I mean you even said that I didn't even know her and you were right. I don't love her. I love you Kate. I'm in love with you."

"Really?" she asked, still frowning.

"Yeah," he nodded. Kate's frown suddenly turned. There were tears forming in her eyes, but she was smiling.

* * *

Sawyer walked to Claire's house. He knocked on the door and waited for Claire to answer. He was sure that her mom had left again because the entire reason why Claire left Jack's house was because she needed to go home to take care of the baby. The door opened and Ms. Littleton was standing in front of him.

"Hi," he said slightly nervously.

"Claire can't come out," she stated with her arms crossed. "Did she by any chance tell you that Aaron was her brother and not her son?"

"No!" Sawyer scoffed. "Why are you such a bitch? I mean you'll have to pardon me, but you treat your daughter like crap, and what's more is that you treat her like a kid."

"She is a kid," she answered. "She's only 16 young man."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I know. But she also has a child. So that makes her a little more mature than all the rest of us."

"You think getting yourself knocked up at 16 is mature?" she asked.

"No," he responded. "I guess you're right about that…but she's taking care of her responsibility. In fact she didn't even want to start anything with me…it was me that pushed it."

"Then back off," she stated.

"No mum," Claire replied coming down the steps holding Aaron. "You back off. It's my decision who I'm friends with. You can't tell me who to like, or who to hang out with."

"Yes I can," she answered. "I'm your mother."

"Sawyer," Claire sighed. "Can you do me a favor? Big favor?"

"What do you need darlin'?" he asked.

"Can you take Aaron upstairs? I'd like a word alone with my _mother_," Claire answered. Without waiting for an answer Claire handed the baby to Sawyer. Sawyer awkwardly held Aaron and looked at Claire with not just a little unease, but he was so nervous that he almost dropped Aaron. He carefully rearranged Aaron in his arms and carried him up the stairs.

Claire looked at her mom with her lips pursed. Her mom rolled her eyes slightly and walked away from her into the kitchen. Claire followed her quickly and grabbed her by the arm.

"Mum!" Claire half sobbed. "Me and Sawyer are friends."

"Do you kiss like that on the couch with your friends Claire?" her mom asked. "I never even saw you make out with Thomas like that."

"Mum!" Claire exclaimed again. "I like him, alright? I just-I dunno. We connected, and he completely understands me and Aaron. When I told him about Aaron, he didn't judge me. He actually got it…and he still wanted to hang out with me."

"Are you gonna just make him Aaron's new father?" she asked.

"No," Claire scoffed. "Not if Sawyer doesn't want it."

Claire spun around quickly and went up the stairs. She went to her room quickly and saw Sawyer sitting on the floor with the baby. He was talking softly to him and Claire realized that he was telling him a story. She pressed her lips together and sniffled. She sat down next to him and looked down at the baby.

"Hey," she whispered.

"You ok?" he asked. She nodded and took the baby from him. He watched as she put the baby back in his crib. He was sleeping, and Claire hoped that when she put him down he would stay sleeping. She squatted back down toward Sawyer and took him by the hands. He stood up before she could try and pull him up. She smiled and then leaned toward his lips. He kissed her, but then backed away.

"I should probably get going," he whispered. He touched her face softly. "I mean-I just don't want any problems."

"I don't care about my mum!" she sobbed softly. "I want you."

"I know," he nodded. "I want you too. But what about you mom. I mean she loves you. She just wants what's best for you."

"She thinks she can control my life," Claire shook her head. "But she can't. I'm a big girl. I have a son. I think I can decide who I want around me and my own kid."

"Claire-" he started.

"Fine!" she exclaimed. "Get out!"

Sawyer turned toward the door and Claire followed him and stood in front of it.

"No," she sniffled. "I-I didn't mean it. Please. Don't leave."

Sawyer put both his hands on either side of her face and pulled her into a kiss. She kissed him back quickly and fiercely. She walked backwards into the room and fell on to the bed, taking Sawyer with him.

* * *

The next day Kate and Jack were at Jack's house, supposedly having their movie night, but instead they were making out on the bed. Jack's parents had no idea what was actually going on. They had both heard Jack's dad leave in a frenzy because there was some car accident involving an SUV and a car. Apparently they needed Christian to do surgery. Kate and Jack continued to make out throughout most of the movie. The movie was one that they had seen 100 times anyway. Kate heard the soft knocking on the door.

"What mom?" Jack asked coming up for air. "We're watching the movie."

"It's me," Shannon sobbed on the other end of the door. Jack got off of Kate, and Kate looked at him somewhat confused. Jack opened the door and Shannon fell into his arms. Kate scoffed slightly and looked at them.

"Shannon," he whispered. "What's wrong?"

"I just got back from the hospital," she said, barely able to speak at all. "My dad just died."

Kate felt slightly guilty for scoffing at Shannon. Shannon put her head against Jack's shoulder. Jack hugged her softly and patted her on the shoulder. She shook her head.

"Yeah," she whispered. "I can tell you're busy. I'll see you later."

She ran from the room and down the steps. Kate looked at Jack sadly and stood up. She walked toward him and took his hand.

"You should go after her," she whispered. Jack looked from Kate to the front door where Shannon had just ran out of.

"I'll be right back," he said and leaned forward and kissed her.

He followed Shannon all the way to her house. When he got there she was sitting on the front porch with her head down on her knees. He sat down next to her and put his hand on her back.

"It's gonna be ok," he whispered. She turned toward him and put her head against his shoulder. She looked up at him with wet eyes and leaned toward his lips. She kissed him and tried to deepen it, but he backed away.

"Shannon," he began. She got up and ran into the house and slammed the door behind her.

Jack got up and walked back to his house where Kate was waiting for him

For 2 months Jack and Kate spent most of the time together. Kate didn't mind sleeping next to him or the fact that in the middle of the night their bodies would find each other and they'd wake up embraced. Sawyer and Claire were still taking things slow, but they would make out for hours in her room. Most of the time when her mom wasn't there.

Kate walked into the dimly lit house and furrowed her eyebrows. The only light in the house were candles that made a path to the dining room. Jack's parents were gone for the weekend, and they trusted him completely. Although they still had no idea that he and Kate were together. Kate followed the candles and let out a chuckle. When she got to the table Jack was waiting with a candle lit dinner.

* * *

Sawyer and Claire were hardly ever let to have a night alone. Claire ran out to front yard where Sawyer was waiting for her. She jumped into his arms and laughed.

"I told her that I was sleeping at my friend Megan's house," she whispered. "We have the whole night."

"Good," Sawyer said softly. He took her by the hand and they began to walk. They went out to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town and then Sawyer guided Claire down the street.

"Where are we going?" she laughed. He stopped walking and encircled his hands over her waist.

"I love you Claire," he whispered.

"I love you too," she stated.

"I've been with a lot of girls," he shook his head. "But you're the only one that has ever meant anything to me."

"I hate to ruin the mood," she smirked. "But how many girls are we talking?"

"It doesn't matter," he answered. "It doesn't matter Claire because none of them even mattered. You're the first person I've ever loved."

"I know," she nodded. "I love you too Sawyer. I mean-I thought that I loved Thomas, but you're the first person I've actually fallen in love with too. I just-I just want to know."

"5, but I-" he began.

"You're right," she shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Well then," he sighed slightly nervously. "This is where I'm taking you."

She turned toward his glance and saw that they were standing in front of a hotel. She looked back at him slightly shocked and shook her head.

"I didn't bring you here to have sex Claire," he told her. "I just want to sleep next to you all night. With no baby interruptions."

She smiled at him and raised herself on her toes. She kissed him and he kissed her back.

"What are we waiting for?" she chuckled.

Sawyer lead her to the hotel room and opened the door. The room was filled with flower petals scattered every where. The room had candles lit all over the place. Claire let out a soft gasp and turned back toward him.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"I knew you'd like it," he answered. She kissed him again and he picked her up easily. He carried her to the bed and laid her down.

* * *

After dinner Kate and Jack headed up to Jack's bedroom. Kate was much more aggressive with her kissing than ever before. She took off her shirt, which made Jack slightly uncomfortable but he continued to kiss her. She moved underneath him and started at his pants.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It's been 9 years, and 2 months," she whispered. "I'm pretty sure we're ready."

She started at his belt again, but he took her gently by the wrist.

"I'm not so sure," he shook his head. "Kate you have to know, that I really want this, but just not right now. When I did the candle light dinner, it was just for fun. It had nothing to do with us having sex."

"Don't you want to?" she asked.

"I already told you I did," he answered.

"Then I don't get what the big deal is," she stated.

* * *

Sawyer was moving slowly and carefully over her body. He lifted her shirt and then quickly took his hand away from her, because he didn't want to push her too much.

"Sawyer," she whispered. "I want this. I want you."

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "And you went through all this trouble to make this room so beautiful."

"But I already told you that I didn't bring you here to have sex," he replied.

"I know," she answered. "And that makes it even better. We're doing something that we both want but that neither of us necessarily planned on. I love you. So I want this."

Sawyer bent down and kissed her again. They both started taking clothes off and tossing them on the floor. The night was spent in passion and in each other's arms.

* * *

Kate sat up and put her shirt back on, feeling a horrible sensation of déjà vu. She shook her head as she stood back up and started leaving the bedroom.

"Kate stop," Jack said, without standing up to stop her physically. "Just because I said I didn't want to have sex with you tonight doesn't mean that it will never happen. I just-I'm not ready, and if you really think about it I bet you that you're not ready either."

She shook her head. She knew that he was right. She sighed to herself and walked back over to the bed. She sat down and they laid down and went to sleep.

**A/N: OK...so that was my chapter. Don't worry...this fic is definitely far from over. Even though there may be some more angst with the characters it will probably be at least another 5 or 6 chapters...probably even more than that.**

* * *

**SPOILERS...WARNING: IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN MY FIC THEN STOP READING NOW...AND P.S PLEASE REVIEW TOO HEHE**

****

OK...so most likely I will be ending it with Jate and ConMama. There is definitely going to be some Skate happening in later chapters, but ultimately it will end Jate...for a couple reasons...number one I was actually planning on doing that anyway (although being the hardcore SKater that I am, I always want to end it with Skate lol), but also I did get a couple requests of a Jate ending, and plus, I always always always write a Skate ending, and probably should have more of a diversity of things.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

When Claire woke up in the morning Sawyer was staring at her. He ran his finger across her cheek and leaned in to kiss her lips. She chuckled softly and moved toward him. He kissed her and she smiled widely.

"I should probably get back," she whispered.

"No," he half whined.

"My mum is going to page me any minute to be home and take care of Aaron," she argued softly. Before either of them could say another word Claire's pager went off. She chuckled and got out of bed, taking the sheet with her to cover her body. She left Sawyer alone and exposed on the bed.

"Like clockwork," she acknowledged the pager. She picked up the hotel phone and brought it over to the bed. She hadn't noticed that she left Sawyer uncovered, and turned bright red.

"That's adorable," he whispered and raised up to kiss her. "We made love all night, and I still make you blush."

"I dunno," she shrugged. "It's just weird. I've never known anyone like you Sawyer."

"Call your mom," he grumbled. She leaned toward him and kissed his lips. Then she sat back up and began dialing her house. Sawyer got out of bed and walked toward the bathroom while Claire was on the phone.

"Mum," Claire began. "Yeah…I just woke up and I went to see Sawyer…yeah I know…he wants to take me out to breakfast, so can I please just go to breakfast with him?…ok…alright!…fine…see you then…McCloud's."

Claire stood up and went into the bathroom with Sawyer. He had already managed to put his pants on and was brushing his teeth. He handed Claire one of the hotel's toothbrushes and she smiled and began brushing her teeth too.

"You saying I have bad breath?" she mumbled while still brushing.

"Yup," he nodded, kissed her on the top of the head and went back into the bedroom area.

"I told my mum that we wanted to go to breakfast," she said, following Sawyer back into the bedroom and beginning to get dressed. "She's gonna meet us at McCloud's with Aaron."

"Ok," he nodded.

"How are you so good to me?" she shook her head. "Most guys our age…if I told them I was a mother…if I told them we were meeting my son for breakfast…most guys would run in the other direction."

"I'm not most guys," he shrugged. "Besides that Claire…I love you, so that means Aaron comes with the package."

"God!" she exclaimed. "You're making it hard for me to want to get dressed."

"Then don't," he whispered. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the neck. She chuckled slightly but backed away from him.

"We're meeting them in 15 minutes," she told him.

"We can do it in 5," he replied into her ear.

"Ok," she chuckled. "You went from being that charming man I fell in love with to being a pig in one minute flat."

"Alright," he sighed. "Let's go get Aaron."

**1 Month Later**

They had been back to school for almost 3 months. Everyone knew that Kate and Jack were dating. Most people thought it was a long time coming and weren't surprised at all, and some people thought that Jack would never notice Kate. People knew about Sawyer and Claire too, and almost everyone thought that Claire was a huge slut. They all found out about Aaron, even though Sawyer didn't tell anyone. Claire had a rough few months in a new time, because no one wanted to be friends with her, except for Kate, Jack, and of course Sawyer.

Kate was standing in front of a full length mirror. Claire was sitting behind her holding Aaron. Kate was wearing a dress and trying to cover the skin that was showing.

"I don't see why I have to wear something this revealing," she whined. "I don't want to wear this stupid dress. I'm a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl."

"Yeah Kate, we all know," Claire chuckled. "But come on…it's homecoming. You have to wear a dress. And Jack was so cute when he asked you."

"I know," Kate smiled. "Why aren't you and Sawyer going?"

"Are you crazy?" Claire asked. "Not only will I be ridiculed for going to the dance instead of taking care of my baby, but my mom won't baby sit."

"If you ask me your mom is a royal bitch," Kate said seriously. "Come on…if you really want to go…screw everyone else, and have fun with Sawyer."

"He probably doesn't even want to go," Claire shrugged. She stood up and handed Kate another dress to try on. Kate rolled her eyes but started changing anyway. "Besides…even if he did want to go…still have the problem where my mom won't baby sit."

"Rose will," Kate replied. "I'm sure she'd love to. Or what about Christian and Margo?"

"I don't want to impose," Claire stated. "And it's not like I have any money to pay them."

"Rose won't make you pay her…in fact if I know my aunt as well as I think I do…she won't let you pay her," Kate chuckled. She turned around in the mirror to examine the 10th dress she tried on. She cocked her head and smiled widely. "It's perfect isn't it?"

"You look gorgeous Kate," Claire nodded.

"Now it's your turn," Kate smiled and took Aaron from Claire.

Claire came home from the mall, and walked up the stairs with Aaron and her new purchases. When she got into her bedroom Sawyer was standing there with a red rose.

"Sawyer!" she exclaimed. She quickly put Aaron down and wrapped her arms around Sawyer's neck. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to ask you somethin'," he replied. "Will you go to prom with me?"

"It's Homecoming," she stated with a slight smile.

"Oh right…I dunno, same difference, I gotta dress up all silly no matter what," he answered.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "You really wanna take me to homecoming?"

"Claire just answer me this…do you want to go?" he asked.

"Not if you don't want to," she answered. "I mean we can stay here with Aaron. I probably won't even be able to find someone to take care of him."

"Uh uh uh," he shook his head. "I don't want you to even think about Aaron…we'll figure out someone who can take care of him…but Claire…do you want to go?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Ok," he smiled. "Then no big deal. We'll go…we'll dance and be stupid, just like any other normal 16 year old Claire."

"Ok," she whispered. "Wait...how did you know that I even wanted to go?"

"Well...A-because I know you...and I saw the look on your face when Kate asked you if you could help her pick out a dress. And B-well, Kate kinda called me when you were at the mall and told me that you found the perfect dress."

He leaned toward her and kissed her lips softly. Claire guided him backwards toward the bed and he sat down. She got onto his lap and put one leg on either side of his lap.

"I love you," she whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," he said backing away slightly, and tucking her hair behind her ears. "But do you really wanna be showin' how much we love each other in front of Aaron?"

Claire looked past Sawyer to Aaron who was still sitting on the floor, and cooing up at them. Claire shook her head and got off of Sawyer. She walked over to Aaron and picked him up. She brought him back over to the bed and sat down.

"Why do you gotta ruin everything for mama huh?" she asked.

"Now is that nice?" Sawyer questioned and reached for the baby. "You're mama is just bitter because her teenage years are pretty much over…but don't you worry…I'll make sure that she's nice and relaxed. We can have as much sex as you want on the night of homecoming."

Claire smacked him on the arm and then looked up and saw her mother standing in the doorway. Claire's mom walked toward Sawyer and took the baby from him.

"Well that's just lovely," she stated. "You and my daughter are having sex? Y'know Claire, I was going to give you more responsibilities, and I was even going to let you go to that dance, but are you seriously having sex with this boy?"

"Mum, I love him," she said quietly. "I love him, and he's good to me and he seems to care about Aaron. I just-"

"I love her too," Sawyer responded.

"I can't listen to this, you're just children."

"You're gonna," Claire replied. She stood up and snatched Aaron from her mother, maybe a little harder than she planned. She kissed Aaron on the top of the head and put him in his crib. "I know that you think that I'm just a kid, but I'm tired of it. You can't control me anymore."

**2 Weeks Later**

Kate was walking down the steps outside her aunt and uncle's house where Jack, Sawyer, and Claire were waiting for her. Claire was wearing a pretty pink dress, and she had white flowers in her hair. When Sawyer saw her he pretended to fall backwards. Kate's dress was green, and only made her eyes look greener. Her hair was down and curled softly. She was wearing a small amount of make-up.

"Whoa," Sawyer said out loud and whistled. "I see you covered your freckles there with some of that goop."

"Shut up Sawyer," she scoffed.

"Do you guys think you can go one day without bickering?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," Sawyer shrugged

"When?" Claire asked with her hands on her hips."

"When pigs fly," Sawyer answered.

"When Sawyer shaves," Kate said, narrowing her eyes. Then she looked back at Jack, who hadn't said a word since Kate walked down the steps. "Whatchu looking at? Is my make-up smeared? Oh my God it's the dress…no! My hair...I shouldn't have worn it down...I look weird don't I?"

"Kate," Jack shook his head. "You look gorgeous. I-I'm speechless. You look-"

Kate and Jack both chuckled softly and Kate raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed him.

When they walked into the dance Kate's heart started pounding harder. She hadn't ever gone to a dance like this. Every time there was a dance held she, Sawyer, and Jack all decided that there was better things to do rather than hang out and stand by the wall.

When Claire walked in she leaned against Sawyer's shoulder, and almost immediately felt regret for coming to the dance. She heard whispering and one of the girls said 'she must have had it when she was like 14'.

"Aaron is not an 'it'," Claire whispered.

"They're stupid bitches Claire," Sawyer said. "Let's just have fun."

They spent the night dancing and talking. Jack and Kate mostly stayed to themselves. They got a few stares and people thought that they were dancing a tad too closely, but they didn't care. Kate ran her hands through his hair and leaned toward him. He thought that she was going to kiss him, but instead she put her mouth next to his ear.

"Tonight," she whispered. He didn't have to ask her what she meant by that, and his heart began pounding out of his chest. It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex with her because he did, but he still thought that it might still be too early.

On the way home Jack and Kate, and Sawyer and Claire went in opposite directions. Claire and Sawyer were heading to his house. His grandparents weren't home and they were going to be spending the night there. Claire's mom still wasn't thrilled about the relationship, but she was realizing that she really couldn't do anything about it so she let them go.

Sawyer lead Claire into the house, and before he could get all the way in the house Claire pulled her dress up over her hips and jumped into his arms. Her legs went around his hips and she kissed his lips.

"Claire," he whispered.

"You said all night," she reminded him.

"Oh, well how could that have slipped my mind Mamacita," he said kissing her and walking backwards into the house.

* * *

When Jack and Kate got back to Jack's house, Jack was sure that Kate was going to jump onto him, but she didn't. She just took his hand in hers and walked with him up to his room. When they got there Kate sat down on the bed and waited for Jack. Jack bent down and kissed her mouth. She laid down and wrapped her legs around him. He continued to kiss her, but didn't touch her with his hands at all. Kate stopped and sat back up.

"This is really hard for you isn't it," she mumbled.

"Kate," he whispered. "Yeah. I mean-God, we've just been friends for so long, and I just-Kate it's just weird. We've barely even gotten to second base."

"Who's fault is that!?" she yelled. "I've been wanting to do anything and everything with you Jack. I want you…but if I can't be with you, then I don't want to be with you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked. "Do you mean if I don't have sex with you then you're gonna break up with me? It's not just some sex Kate, I mean I don't know about you, but I'm a virgin and I don't-"

"You don't want to lose your virginity to me?" she asked.

"Dammit Kate you're not listening!" he exclaimed. "I just wanted everything to be good. I don't want to fight and I don't want to break up."

"Me neither," she whispered. "Jack, God…I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just-"

"I know," he nodded. "Believe me…it's taking all my will power in the world to say no to you right now. But can we just-I dunno. Do other things?"

"Yes," she answered. "Absolutely."

**A/N: Please please review...**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This one jumps ahead quite a bit.**

**6 Months Later**

It was the last day of school. Kate and Jack had gotten in to a few more fights about having sex or not having sex, but each time they had made up.

Jack came home from school and was waiting for Kate to meet him. When he got into the house he could hear his parents screaming at each other. They had been fighting way more than usual. Jack was somewhat scared that they would get a divorce, but part of him thought maybe it would be better than listening to them fight constantly.

"I'm taking him!" Christian yelled. "You can't stop me…he's my son."

"Shouldn't you ask him?" Margo asked. "Maybe he won't want to go with you."

"He will…it's the opportunity of a lifetime."

"What's going on?" Jack asked, walking into the room.

"Your father wants to take you to California for the entire summer."

"What?" he asked. "For what?"

"For an internship at a hospital there," he answered. "You can learn all of this Jackie. It's what you want isn't it?"

"Well yeah," he replied. "But for the whole summer?"

"You'll be back in time for your Junior year," he stated.

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "But what about Kate?"

"It's not like she's gonna be going anywhere Jack. Jack this is a great opportunity. I pulled some strings so you could do this…you're going."

"Well it sounds great, I want to go," he said. "I just-I don't want to be away from Kate for 3 months."

"What do you want more Jack?" Christian asked.

Jack nodded and went up the stairs. He knew that even if his choice was to stay, his dad was going to make him go anyway.

He was sitting on the bed waiting for Kate to come over. He knew that she was going to be upset, but he also knew that she would probably understand. Or at least he hoped she would. He heard a soft knock on the doorframe and looked toward Kate. She smiled at him and walked toward him.

"Hey," she stated, kissing his lips.

"Hey," he replied, pushing her hair away from her face.

"OK," she chuckled. "What's wrong?"

"Kate," he started. "Don't-my dad…he wants to take me to California."

"He wants to take you on vacation?" she chuckled. "So what's the big deal?"

"For the whole summer," he mumbled.

"Oh," she whispered.

"We'll talk every day I promise," he said.

"So you're gonna go?" she asked.

"I have to," he answered.

"No you don't," she scoffed. "All you have to do is say 'dad, I don't want to go'. He'll understand. And besides that I'm surprised that your mom is even going to let you go."

"Kate, I know this sucks, but I just-it's a great opportunity. I get to go see what my dad does every day."

"Jack, you're only 16. You don't have to know what your entire life is going to be," she said.

"Yeah," he replied. "But I do. Kate I've known since I was 5 that I wanted to be a doctor. Remember when we were 9 and you fell off the monkey bars and scraped your knee. Who was the first person to get to you?"

"Sawyer," she scoffed. "He made fun of me and called me Katie Klutzy."

"Ok," he laughed. "But who was the first person to reach you with a band-aid…and I even gave you my lunch money so you could buy one of those slushy things."

"Yeah," she whispered. "I remember."

"So you're not gonna make me feel guilty about going are you?"

"No," she mumbled. He kissed her and laid down on the bed with her. She sat up and looked down at him.

"I should go home and get changed if we're going out tonight," she stated. "When are you leaving anyway?"

"Dunno," he shrugged. "I gotta go talk to my dad."

Kate walked back to her house, and was completely miserable. Every summer was spent at Jack's house. Sitting out on the front lawn, just talking and being with each other. She even didn't mind hanging out with Sawyer sometimes, even though he loved to irritate her. She decided that instead of going home she would go to Claire's house.

She walked up the steps to Claire's house and knocked on the door. Claire answered the door with puffy and red eyes. Kate immediately thought that she and Sawyer probably broke up.

"Claire, honey what happened?" Kate asked.

"I have to go back to Australia," she sobbed.

"What?" Kate questioned. "Why?"

"Because my mum is making me," she answered. "She left me this."

Claire handed Kate a plane ticket, which was going to be leaving tomorrow. Kate shook her head and sighed deeply.

"She can't do this to you," Kate stated.

"She already did," Claire sniffled. "And she's already gone. She took Aaron. So I have to go back and at least get my kid, and when I get there…she'll make me stay."

"Does Sawyer know?" Kate asked.

"No," Claire shook her head. "And you can't tell him Kate."

"You're just going to leave, without saying goodbye?" Kate questioned, in shock.

"I have to," she answered. "I can't say goodbye to him. I love him so much…I don't want-"

"Then you have to Claire," Kate replied. "Claire, I know how much Sawyer loves you too…and he'll be heartbroken if you don't at least tell him what's going on."

"You're right," Claire nodded.

Kate went home and got changed. Jack was going to be coming to her house and they were going to walk to dinner and a movie from there. When he got there he looked defeated and sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm leaving tomorrow," he mumbled. "My dad got non refundable tickets so I can't switch it to another day. I have to pack."

"Oh no you don't," she chuckled. "We're going out and spending your last night here together…got that?"

"Ok," he whispered.

"Come on," she sighed. "It's only 3 months. We can talk on the phone every day. We can write e-mails. We'll-I mean it's only 3 months. We'll be fine. And it's not like we're breaking up because of it."

After that Jack was more upbeat the rest of the night. He laughed and joked with Kate like nothing was wrong. Kate tried to not let it bother her, but deep down she was just as upset as Jack was. When they got back to her house Kate lead him through the house. They sat down on the bed and started kissing. She stopped first and breathed in deeply.

"Jack," she started.

"I want to-" he began. "I think we should. I mean before I go."

"I don't," she shook her head.

"You've been bugging me for 6 months!" he exclaimed.

"I know!" she yelled back. "But now everything's different. And you're leaving. I don't want the reason that we have sex to be because you're going to be away for the summer."

"It'll be like-I dunno poetic," he shrugged. "We can seal our love. I want to, and I think you do too."

"Yeah Jack, I do," she nodded. "But not like this. Not when we're both vulnerable and upset about you leaving. I think we should do it the day you come back. If we can wait the entire summer without seeing each other and then feel the same…then it will all be worth it."

"Ok," he mumbled.

"Don't be mad at me," she said.

"I'm not," he sighed. "Of course I'm not."

Claire called Sawyer and told him to come over. He wasn't sure why, but she sounded desperate over the phone. He immediately went to her house and when she came to the door she fell into his arms in tears. He wrapped his arms around her, slightly confused.

"Oh, sweetheart, are you ok?" he asked.

"Not really," she sniffled.

"Where's Aaron?" he questioned, noticing that all of Aaron's toys and the baby play pen was gone. "Claire what's going on?"

"Sawyer," she half sobbed.

"Baby," he whispered and stepped toward her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. She turned toward his lips and kissed him softly. He kissed her back and she stepped closer to him. He put his hands on her back and continued to kiss her, but then backed away.

"Make love to me Sawyer," she said softly. "Please."

"After you tell me what happened," he answered touching her face softly. "Baby, you know how much I love you."

"I do," she sniffled. "But I can't-"

"Shh, yes you can," he stated. "Whatever it is…I'm thinking that you're still gonna get some."

"Nice," she chuckled and wiped her nose. "Ok. Sawyer, I have to go back to Australia."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"My mum is making me go back to Australia. My plane leaves tomorrow," she answered.

"Sweetie," he began. "Screw that. She can't make you do any-"

"She took Aaron!" she exclaimed. "She knows that I'm going to follow him. I'm not going to let my mum raise my son. He's my kid."

"That bitch," he shook his head. "I-what a bitch! I can't-I guess I can believe that from your mother. I-I could kill her. Don't worry…we'll fix it. I'll take care of it."

"How?" she frowned.

"I'll save up enough money and I'll come there. It's not like I have anything here…I'll come to you if you can't stay here."

Claire raised herself on her toes and kissed him softly and slowly. He lifted her up and carried her up the stairs. She kissed him through her tears. He wiped her cheeks and tried to get her to stop crying, but the more he kissed her, the harder she was crying. He put her down on the bed and she started trying to catch her breath. He stopped kissing her, so that she could

"Claire," he whispered. "I promise you…everything is going to be ok. You'll go home and take care of your son…and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Sawyer," she shook her head and propped herself up on her elbows. "Don't get me wrong…I mean I want you to come, but I don't want you to have to leave your whole life, just because I'm going back home. My mom said that after the summer we could talk about me maybe coming back and finishing off my junior and senior year here. But I just have to go home right now."

"I already told you," he sighed. "I have nothing here. I want to come-"

"My mum won't let you," she stated.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "How can she tell me how to live my life? Claire, I want to. I don't want to be alone."

"Sawyer," she whispered. "You won't be. What about all your friends?"

"Who?" he scoffed.

"Jack," she answered. "And whether you want to believe it or not…Kate. Kate is your friend. She does care about you."

"I know," he mumbled. "But she's not you. I don't want to spend the rest of my life wondering if you were really the one."

"Ok," she sighed. "Lemme make you a deal. If I'm not back by the time school starts…you can come to Australia."

"Ok," he whispered.

He leaned toward her and kissed her lips. She laid down on top of him, and they began slowly and carefully taking off every piece of clothing. When Sawyer's pants were thrown on the floor it made a loud thunk from his phone falling out of the pocket and landing on the floor. Claire chuckled softly and they began to kiss once again.

Kate was laying in Jack's arms. He was sleeping. She knew that Jack hadn't told Sawyer yet about him leaving, and she knew that Sawyer would at least want to know. She reached over to the end table and picked up her cell phone. She dialed his number and waited. It rang and rang and rang and went to voicemail.

"Hey, it's me, leave me one and maybe I'll call ya back," Sawyer's voice stated.

"Hey Sawyer," Kate sighed. "It's Kate. I just wanted to tell you something kinda important. I don't want to tell you on your voice mail, so call me back…oh and I heard about Claire…I'm sorry."

Kate put the phone back down and cuddled against Jack. He put an arm around her and kissed her on the temple.

"I was gonna call him," he mumbled. "I wanna say goodbye to him. I think he was spending the night at Claire's house…maybe I'll go in the morning."

"I'll come with you," she answered. "I wanna say bye to Claire anyway."

"K," he whispered.

The next morning Kate and Jack walked to Claire's house. They were standing outside of the house and about to knock on the door when Claire came out of the door carrying her suitcase. Kate saw that her eyes were wet. She looked at Claire sadly and Claire put her suitcase down and wrapped her arms around her.

"Oh!" Claire exclaimed. "I forgot my passport."

"I'll help you find it," Kate offered, as Sawyer came out of the house with another large suitcase. Kate and Claire went running back up the stairs.

"Sawyer," Jack started. "Man…I really hate to do this to you right now…I mean with everything that you're going through with Claire."

"Jack, just tell me," Sawyer replied.

"I'm going away for the summer."

"What?" he asked.

"My dad is making me go to California for the summer. It's this amazing opportunity for me to-it's an internship," Jack answered. "I'm so sorry. I just-I wanted to say goodbye. But it's not goodbye. I just-can you do me a favor?"

"Sure," he mumbled. "I mean I guess."

"I need you to just-" Jack sighed. "Can you take care of Kate for me? She's trying to be all strong and act like it's not bothering her…but this summer…can you please just take care of her."

"Sure," he repeated. "Sure I will Jack. Of course I will. I mean…she's really all I have left anyway. We can kinda take care of each other I guess."

"Thanks," Jack whispered.

**A/N: OK…so I hope that you're all ok with this. Don't worry…I promise that everything will all work out. Please please review!!**


	8. Chapter 8

Kate and Sawyer spent the summer together, just like they always did. It was weird for Jack to be gone for the summer, but they made the best of it. Most days were spent in Kate's room listening to music or watching TV. Sometimes they would go to the beach and on particularly hot days they'd stop by the movie theater on the way home to cool off. When Sawyer and Kate would hang out it was strictly platonic, with the occasional little bit of flirtation, but that was always the way it was with Sawyer. Kate and Sawyer now even joked the feelings they could be having, but neither of them admitted to ever having any real feelings. They joked about how they could be having an affair without Jack or Claire even knowing, but nothing ever happened. Kate talked to Jack almost every other day. She talked about him to Sawyer and told Sawyer what Jack would say. Sawyer hardly ever talked about Claire. Kate knew that they hadn't talked much. Claire had called a few times but not very often. Every time Sawyer tried to call her no one would answer.

Sawyer woke up at 7:00 that morning. It was the earliest Sawyer had ever gotten up the entire summer. He tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. He sat around his house till almost 10:00, and then decided to walk to Kate's house.

When he got there he let himself in. He knew that Bernard and Rose would be gone. They had gone on a weekend sailing trip, and offered for both Kate and Sawyer to come, but they decided they'd rather stay home. Rose had said sweetly the day she left 'be good kids…no making out on the couch while we're gone'. Both Kate and Sawyer had chuckled, but Kate turned a light shade of pink.

Sawyer walked through the house, not finding any evidence that Kate was awake. In fact she was snoring softly. Sawyer laughed softly and covered his mouth to keep himself quiet. He walked over to the bed and jumped on her then stood up and began jumping up and down on the bed.

"Sawyer!" Kate groaned. "Lemme alone. You were here till 3:00 in the morning! Let me sleep!"

"Oh come on Kate!" he exclaimed. "We have to get going. If we're gonna get to the beach and get your favorite spot."

"It's 10:00," she answered. "I don't think anyone will be there."

"Exactly," he shrugged. "So we gotta get there before all the good spots are taken."

"Fine," she mumbled. She tossed her covers off and realized that she was wearing a tank top that was somewhat see-through. Sawyer turned bright red, and Kate covered her body.

"I'll-," he cleared his throat. "I'll wait for you out here."

"K," she said obviously just as nervous as Sawyer was. Sawyer left the room and nearly ran into the wall when he reached the doorway. Kate let out a soft but audible chuckle and shut the door to get changed.

Sawyer and Kate walked to the beach together. Sawyer kept walking in Kate's path and making her trip. And she would shove him right back. This was frequent from the time they were 8 years old. They were almost to the beach and Sawyer walked in front of Kate and stopped dead in his tracks. She bumped into him and fell over.

"You jerk!" she exclaimed. "Sawyer, why are you so mean to me!"

"Oh come on," he sighed pulling her up. She rolled her eyes and took her shoes off to walk on the sand. Kate put her chair down in the sand. She took off her bathing suit cover up, and sat down and pulled her sunglasses and a large brimmed hat out of her beach bag. She looked over at Sawyer and smiled. He let out a loud laugh and hit her hat to push it down on her head.

"You look like Audrey Hepburn," he said slightly sarcastically, but part of Kate thought maybe he was actually serious.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she smirked. She picked up her book and started reading, but looked at Sawyer out of the corner of her eye. He was checking his phone for the 3rd time in the past half hour. She frowned and looked at him.

"I don't think it's going to change Sawyer," she whispered. "And I don't think as much as you've been checking it, that it's even possible for you to miss a call."

"I just want her to call," he mumbled.

"I know," she nodded. She put her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok. She'll call."

"I don't think that she's gonna come back," he sighed. "And I don't think that she wants me to come see her."

"You should go and surprise her," she said.

"I don't want to do that to her," he shook his head. "I just wish I could talk to her y'know. I know that you miss Jack, but at least you've gotten to talk to him."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Sawyer-"

"What?" he asked. She took off her sunglasses and hat and looked at him seriously. "What?"

Her serious face turned into a large smile and she shoved him over, then got up and ran down to the water. He was quick on his feet and followed her. When he reached her he picked her up and before she could even begin to protest he ran into the water and threw her into a large wave. She squealed and shoved at him. They played in the water until they were both too exhausted to continue. They walked together back to their spot, and were even too tired to mess with each other on the way there. Kate laid her beach chair to a laying position and laid down on her stomach. She unhooked her bathing suit top so that she didn't get a tan line and took a deep breath. She put her hat over her face, but only enough to shield the sun from her eyes.

"Sawyer," she whispered.

"Yeah," he mumbled, picking up her book and beginning to read to her.

"Thanks," she stated.

"For what?" he asked.

"I dunno," she sighed. "For being here for me this summer. For not being a jerk, and letting me spend the whole summer alone. I just really appreciate that you're here to keep my mind off missing Jack."

"You too Freckles," he whispered. He picked up his phone and gasped loudly. "She called."

"Told you she would," Kate smiled. Except Sawyer didn't exactly look happy. But he got up and looked down at her.

"I'm gonna go call her," he murmured.

"You don't seem very happy," she said, slightly concerned. "

"No, I am," he shrugged. "I just-I've been waiting for her to call…"

"Do you feel guilty?" she asked.

"Why would I feel guilty?" he asked. "You mean because I was messing around with you, instead of answering my phone? I dunno…it's weird. Today Kate…and a lot of days…when we're hanging out I don't think about her as much. I mean I do…it's just not constant. So I guess yeah…I kinda feel guilty for having fun with you and kinda forgetting about her for a few hours."

"It's ok to have fun Sawyer," Kate smiled.

"I know," he sighed. "I'm being an idiot. As usual. I'm gonna go call her."

"Ok," Kate answered, and watched as Sawyer walked up the beach to make his phone call in privacy. She closed her eyes, but then felt someone staring at her. She opened her eyes and looked at a young girl who was looking at her.

"Hi," Kate said, slightly irritated.

"Hi," she stated. "I'm Angela."

"Hi," Kate repeated.

"I'm 13," she continued.

"Can I help you with something Angela?" Kate asked, trying her best not to sound mean.

"I wanted to tell you that your boyfriend is really cute," she answered.

"Oh," Kate chuckled. "He's not my boyfriend."

"He was acting like it," Angela replied. "When you were playing in the water, he kept picking you up."

"Yeah, but we're just friends," Kate smiled. "Good friends…but just friends."

"Oh," Angela shrugged.

"Angel!" a frightened looking woman was scanning the beach frantically. "Angela Frances where are you?"

"Ooh, the dreaded middle name," Kate chuckled. "You better go."

"Yeah," she nodded. "OK…bye."

Angela went running toward the frantic looking woman, and then promptly got a spanking for wandering off. Kate flinched slightly, thinking it was a little excessive to give a spanking for something like that, but she laid back down and waited for Sawyer to come back. She didn't have to wait very long before Sawyer walked back over and heaved a heavy sigh.

"She didn't answer," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Kate said sincerely. "But y'know what might cheer you up. Did you see that girl talking to me?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"She thought that you were my boyfriend," Kate chuckled.

"Great," he mumbled. "I'm worse that I thought."

"What?" she asked. "Sawyer, what are you talking about? You think you're a bad boyfriend because you spent the day having fun with me? A person that you claim to not be able to stand."

"Well Freckles, you know that ain't true, cuz if it was I wouldn't have spent the entire summer entertaining you like Jack asked me to."

"What?" she asked. "Jack asked you to-I can't believe this. All this time I thought maybe…just maybe we were finally friends, and you're going to tell me that the only reason why you're doing any of this is because of Jack! Screw that!"

She got up and left, not even bothering to take any of her stuff. Sawyer sighed and started gathering all the beach stuff. It was definitely true that all of it started because of Jack's request, but it ended up being more than that. That's another reason why he felt so bad. He was genuinely beginning to have feelings for Kate, but he didn't want to betray Claire for anything. He didn't want Kate to think that the only reason why they were hanging out this summer was because of Jack. He went back to his house first to change into jeans and a t-shirt, and then made his way back over to Kate's.

Kate was in her house wearing her pajamas and pacing in the living room. She had the TV on low, but she was grumbling to herself. She couldn't believe that Jack and Sawyer had done that to her. She knew that Jack was going to be calling her that night and she would definitely give him a piece of her mind. She knew that Jack probably only did it so that she didn't have to be alone this summer, but she thought that she and Sawyer were actually having fun. And a small part of her even felt a little guilty for developing a tiny little crush on Sawyer. She saw him coming up her driveway and about had a heart attack, not expecting anyone to be coming over that night. She sighed and went to the door.

"What do you want James?" she asked.

"Well Katherine," he said, emphasizing Katherine, and knowing how much she hated it. The only person that she ever allowed to call her Katherine was her mom. At her mom's funeral one of her aunt's called her Katherine and she blew up and screamed at her right in the middle of the wake. She went to her room and hid the rest of the night, with Jack and Sawyer by her side. She remembered that Jack had hugged her tightly, and while she was hugging Jack, Sawyer hesitated, before taking her hand and squeezing it. Getting the comfort from both of them, was too much for Kate to handle and she dissolved back into tears.

"Well what?" she scoffed. "And don't call me that."

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I just wanted to tell you that what's been going on this whole summer…it's real. I mean it did start out with me making a promise to Jack that I'd take care of you, but I wanted us to take care of each other. Kate you're the only other friend I have in this miserable town, and I thought maybe if I spent the summer with you, it wouldn't be so hard to be apart from Claire. And it actually worked till today and you only made me feel guilty."

"Come in," she sighed. She stepped out of his way and he came in, carrying Kate's beach things.

"Sorry for leaving you hangin'," she murmured. "So got any ideas of what we can do?"

"Plenty," he smirked. He reached into her beach bag and pulled out a bottle of liquor. She gave him a funny look and then started walking away. "So is that a no."

"No," she answered, turning back toward him. "I just need to get a chaser."

Kate and Sawyer had taken a couple shots. They were still watching TV and playing a drinking game with it. At first there were some rules, but it got to the point that both of them were drinking whenever they felt like it, so they stopped playing the game and just started to talk.

"Wanna play 'I Never'?" he asked, tipping the bottle toward her. She cleared her throat and nodded.

"But I get to go first, because I've never done anything," she answered.

"Well actually Freckles, if memory serves, you've made out with our friend Jack," he smiled.

"Ok, well nothing major," she sighed. "I've never had sex."

Sawyer lifted his shot to his lips and took it quickly. He looked back at her and she looked at her feet and turned red. She was pretty sure that he had, but she couldn't be totally sure till right then.

"You and Jack-o haven't done it yet?" he asked.

"I dunno," she mumbled. "He wanted to on his last night, but I said no."

"He told me you've been bugging him for forever," Sawyer chuckled.

"God you make me feel like I'm desperate," she shook her head. "He told you? I can't believe he would tell you."

"Well then don't, but he did," he shrugged. "Look…it was just a kinda guy to guy talk. He asked me if Claire ever begged for sex. I told him that she didn't have to beg. He said that he was just scared about what it might do to your relationship. But if he wanted to do it on his last night…why didn't you?"

"I don't know Sawyer," she moaned and put her hands to her face. "It was just-we were both upset about him leaving, and I didn't want to have sex for the first time and then have to wait 3 months before I saw him again. It was just-wrong timing. Maybe he doesn't see it that way…but I figured…we waited 6 months…what's 3 more?"

"Good point," he nodded.

"Do you love her?" she asked.

"Love who?" he questioned.

"Who do you think?" she chuckled. "Claire!"

"Y'know…I really think I do," he shook his head. "I'm in love with her. What about Jack?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I mean-don't get me wrong but-ok…I think I love him. I just-I don't know-I've never been in love so I have nothing to compare it to."

"Well Freckles, I've never been in love either, but I sure as hell have never felt this way about a girl before," he told her. "And y'know what…I think I really screwed up Kate. I-she left a message telling me that she was coming back a week after school started. She told me that she has something really important to tell me but she wants to tell me in person. The only thing I can think of is that she's pregnant."

"Didn't you use protection?" she asked. "I mean, you can't be that much of a dumb ass."

"Of course we did," he sighed. "But Kate, you took Sex Ed. You know that nothing is completely affective. Accidents happen."

"Yeah," she whispered. "I guess. I just don't get why you think it's this time that she's pregnant."

"Remember Victoria Larson?" he asked.

"Yeah,"

"She got pregnant," he answered. "She didn't keep it, obviously…but we only did it once, and she got pregnant…me and Claire…we've been having sex for over 6 months."

"Maybe it's something else," Kate shrugged.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Dunno," she shrugged. She looked at him and both of them were beginning to inch toward each other. "I just think you should give her a chance."

"What if she is pregnant?" he asked with a frown. "I mean-I can barely take care of myself. How the hell am I gonna take care of a damn baby. I just-"

Neither of them noticed that they had been getting closer and closer, until they were almost touching. Sawyer leaned toward her and took a deep breath.

"God," he whispered. "You smell good."

"I smell like soap," she said quietly. "Ok…you need to back away or-"

"Or what?" he asked. He leaned toward her and kissed her lips softly. She leaned into the kiss and kissed him back. Then she quickly backed away and stood up.

"Sawyer," she sighed. "What the hell are we doing? We both just said that we love Jack and Claire."

"I don't know," he scoffed. "I just-Kate, dammit, I just-we've been hanging out a lot lately right? Well I do love Claire, but the more time I spend with you…I want to kiss you again."

"We can't," she answered sitting down next to him again and taking him by the hand. He sighed and so did she. "We can't."

"I know," he whispered. And even though they both heard each other they were both leaning toward each other again. "We can't, because of Claire."

"And Jack," she said softly, and then their lips touched again. Kate opened her mouth slowly and their tongues touched. She sighed into the kiss and then gasped and backed away. "No."

"Yeah," he shook his head. "No. No means no. I'm sorry."

He stood up and started walking toward the door. He was on the other side of the couch and Kate quickly stood up and followed him.

"Sawyer," she whispered. "We didn't do anything wrong. We're both drink, I mean drank, drunk…we're both drunk and we're missing Cack and Jaire."

The more Kate talked, the more she and Sawyer both realized how much the alcohol was now affecting her. It hit her all the sudden, and she started laughing.

"I'm sorry," she said lowering to the ground. "I can't believe I kissed you. I don't feel good."

She quickly stood up and ran into the bathroom. Sawyer didn't follow her, but he heard her throw up. He shook his head and couldn't help but laugh softly. He looked at the bottle of alcohol and noticed that half the bottle was gone. He knew that he hadn't had that much. He picked up her cup that she was supposedly 'chasing' her shots with, and took a sip. Pretty much the whole cup was filled with vodka, and then he understood why she got so drunk…he just didn't get why it waited till right then to hit her. She came back out of the bathroom and walked toward him. She sat down on the floor in front of him and frowned.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's ok," he replied. "You ok?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I feel better now."

"I bet," he chuckled. "You ain't gonna feel so great tomorrow. Damn Freckles that hit you fast."

"Yeah," she whispered.

"You want help to your bed?" he asked. She held her hands out and Sawyer chuckled, but took her hands and helped her up. She leaned on him as they walked to the bedroom. She nuzzled against his neck and kissed it.

"You said I smelled good," she smiled. "So do you."

"Thanks," he said softly. He helped her into bed and under the covers.

"No," she shook her head. "I gotta go brush my teeth."

"Why? You're goin' to bed," he replied.

"My mouth feels gross!" she exclaimed.

"Ok," he said putting his hands up in surrender. Kate stumbled into the bathroom and he heard her brushing her teeth. She was gone for almost 4 minutes, and the whole time he heard the toothbrush. She went back into the bedroom and got into bed.

"Settled?" he asked. She nodded and he covered her with the comforter. "I'm gonna sleep on the floor ok? I don't want to leave you alone, just in case somethin' else happens."

"Sleep here," she said moving over and patting the bed.

"Oh, Freckles, I don't think that's such a good idea," he shook his head.

"No," she whined. "I'll be good. I just-I'm so lonely. I just want you to hold me."

"Freckles," he said softly. "I'll be right here on the floor if you need me-"

"I need you," she interrupted.

"Sweetheart," he chuckled. "You're gonna be just fine. In the morning when you wake up, and I'm sleeping next to you, you're gonna freak out because you're not going to remember it."

"Ok," she whined softly. He kissed her on the forehead and laid down on the ground.

"Mind throwin' me a pillow?" he asked. She tried her best, but flung a pillow across the room, no where near where Sawyer had his hands held out, ready to catch it.

"Sorry," she frowned.

"It's ok," he said softly. "No biggie."

He laid down and closed his eyes. Within minutes Kate was snoring loudly. It was much louder and not as cute as her snoring from earlier in that morning.

**A/N: Ok…so I know some people are going to be disappointed that it's starting to turn Skate. Sorry. I just can't help myself. Besides that in Dawson's Creek there was a love triangle too, so I have to write both. Don't worry Jate and Conmama are both far from over. Please continue to R & R…even if you don't necessarily like the Skateness.**


	9. Chapter 9

Sawyer was sleeping on the floor. He was totally uncomfortable, but he didn't want to leave Kate alone. He mainly didn't want her to get sick and choke. He opened his eyes and moaned softly. His neck and back were killing him. He heard Kate moving around in her bed, but he was sure that she was still sleeping. Kate got out of bed, and forgot that Sawyer was there and tripped over him. She fell on top of him and he let out a loud grunt and groan.

"Sorry," she whispered. She was laying on top of him, and then sat up. He sighed softly and sat up too.

"S'ok Freckles," he shook his head. "Probably my own damn fault for sleeping here."

"Did I keep you awake?" she asked.

"You snored," he mumbled.

"Nuh uh!" she protested.

"Believe what you want," he smirked.

"Sawyer," she whispered. "Sawyer I remember last night…well not all of it, but I remember it for the most part."

"What are you talkin' about?" he asked, turning toward her.

"I remember everything," she answered. "I remember kissing you. I remember liking it. And I remember thinking about Jack, but-almost pushing him out of my mind so I could kiss you again and not feel guilty. I-"

"Don't finish that sentence Freckles," he stated. "It was a mistake. We both are with someone. I mean I guess I'm not exactly _with_ Claire, but she's coming back in 2 and a half weeks. And in case you don't remember, our friend Jack is coming back in 3 days."

"I didn't forget," she shook her head. "But you can't tell me that that kiss meant nothing-"

"That's the problem Kate," he sighed and bent his head back. "It did. It meant something to me, but it can never happen again. And I know that as soon as Jack gets back here you guys are going to be more in love than ever and you're going to have sex with him."

"How do you know?!" she screamed. "You don't know what I'm going to do."

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm just gonna go."

Sawyer stood up and started leaving the room. Kate quickly stood up and stood in the doorway.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why what?" he scoffed.

"Why are you gonna go?" she shrugged. "Why do you want to leave?"

"Because if I don't," he began. "We both might do something we regret. I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to hurt Claire for anything in the world. We're going to have a baby-"

"You don't even know if that's what Claire needs to tell you," Kate argued. "I just-I don't want this to end Sawyer. We've had fun together, and this whole summer has been…I dunno, like awesome. I have fun every summer, and I was so worried that this summer was going to suck without Jack. I got mad at you yesterday because I thought that you didn't feel the same. I thought that maybe you were only hanging out with me because you had to."

"I told you," he shook his head. "It only started out that way. And I know we annoy each other, but it's the best part about my day. I mean…my day isn't complete if I haven't had the chance to aggravate you."

She nodded, and neither of them hesitated before leaning forward and pressing their lips to each other. Kate sighed softly and then backed away.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You're right. God! You're right. We can't do this."

"No problem Kate," he smirked. He squeezed her hand and left the house.

**3 Days Later**

Kate was sitting on Jack's front porch waiting for him to come back. Sawyer said that he was going to stop by later, but he would let Kate and Jack have some time alone first. He made some sexual reference and Kate had rolled her eyes. They had stayed away from each other for the most part, and they both really didn't want to hurt their significant others.

Kate saw Jack's dad pull up into the driveway. She hopped off the porch and ran toward the car. Jack got out of the car before it came to a full stop and walked toward her quickly. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the ground.

"Hey," he whispered into her ear. "I missed you."

"I kissed Sawyer!" she blurted out. "I'm sorry…I know that I'm a horrible girlfriend, but we were hanging out and we were just having fun and we kissed, and I'm sorry…I didn't want to hurt you and I wasn't even going to tell you, but I had to. Whew…I feel so much better."

"I'm glad you do Kate," he mumbled. "I'm glad he was there for you because…we're done."

He pushed passed her and ran into the house. She put her hands to her forehead and sighed deeply. She hadn't meant for it to come out that way but she had been thinking about it since it happened. She didn't want to hurt Jack, and she definitely didn't want to break up with him, but it had been eating at her for 3 days and she had to tell someone. She looked up, and Sawyer was walking toward her. She closed her eyes and started walking away from him.

"Whoa, Kate what the hell happened?" he asked.

"I told him," she whispered.

"What?" he asked. "Why would you do that?"

"I didn't mean to. It just kinda came out. I just-it doesn't matter how it happened…but he dumped me."

"He dumped out because of one little kiss?" he asked. "Don't worry…I'll talk to him."

Kate leaned against the tree that she was standing next to and watched Sawyer jump up the stairs. Sawyer went into the house, gave a slight greeting to Margo and Christian, and went directly to Jack's room. When Sawyer got into Jack's room he was looking at his ceiling and tossing a tennis ball at the wall. It started off slow, but every time Jack caught the ball he threw it harder at the wall. Sawyer walked toward him and the ball before it hit the wall hard.

"What the hell do you want, traitor?" Jack scoffed. "I ask you to do me one little favor and you end up making out with my girl?"

"Jack," Sawyer shook his head. "It wasn't like that. The first time we ever kissed was a few nights ago. I was missing Claire and she was missing you. It just happened."

"The first time?" he asked, acting almost as if he didn't hear any of the other words that Sawyer had said. "You mean you kissed her more than once?"

"Jack," he sighed.

"No," Jack scoffed. "Get the hell out of my room."

"No," Sawyer answered simply. "Look. We made a mistake, and we were both drunk-"

"Lame excuse," he mumbled.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I know it is. I'm sorry. I just-it was horrible of us. We both felt guilty…but-I don't really know about her, but I really liked it. And I wanted to do it again. But I didn't. And I actually do really love Claire."

"So you go and make out with someone else?" Jack asked. "Yeah…that's love."

"Shut up Jack," he scoffed. "I just wanted to let you know that she's down there almost in tears because you broke up with her."

"What did she expect?…she cheated on me," he answered.

"I hardly qualify that as cheating Jack," he shook his head. "It was a couple of little kisses and it meant nothing. I guess I'll leave you to wallow in your self pity…but you really are hurting her man."

"Y'know what?" Jack started standing up and coming toward Sawyer. "Screw you. You have no idea what even happened. I got out of the car pulled her into a hug and the first thing she said to me was that she kissed you. She didn't even say 'hi' or 'I miss you'. I don't know what else she expected me to do. And you can tell her that I made out with someone too. A girl in my internship class. We made out in the on-call room. I got farther with her than I ever got with Kate."

"You can tell her that," he scoffed. "I ain't breaking her heart."

Sawyer stormed from the room and down the stairs. Kate perked up when she saw him come out of the house. She walked toward him, and her face fell when she saw the anger on his face.

"Let's go Freckles," he stated, grabbing her arm.

"What did he say?" Kate asked.

"He's a jerk, that's all you gotta know," he replied.

"I have to know!" she exclaimed, twisting out of his grip and running into the house. She ran up to Jack's room and slammed the door behind her.

"I thought he wouldn't tell you," Jack chuckled. "I wasn't telling the truth. I just wanted to see if you actually cared enough to come kick my ass."

"He didn't tell me," Kate said crossing her arms. "He just told me that you were a jerk…and I'd kinda like to know why."

"I wasn't telling the truth," he said closing his eyes. "I told Sawyer that I made out with someone too. I told him that we got farther than me and you did."

"But you were lying?" she asked.

"Kate," he sighed. "Not that you even deserve my explanation…there was a cute girl in my internship class. We kissed once, but that was it, and nothing more happened."

"So you kiss a complete stranger, and you get mad at me for kissing Sawyer? I've known him just as long as I've known you. Y'know the chances of me falling for him, was just as likely as me falling for you," she scoffed.

"She wasn't a stranger. It was last night before I got on the plane. We'd spent the summer together…just like you and Sawyer."

"It's not the same."

"I know," he mumbled. "I was going to tell you, but I wasn't going to have that be my first words to you."

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that. I didn't-I just wanted to get it over with. I wanted to tell you and hope that you'd forgive me."

"I can forgive you Kate, but I can't really forget. I really just want to be alone right now if that's ok."

"Yeah," she nodded.

She walked slowly back down the stairs and went out of the house. She started walking home, without acknowledging Sawyer. Sawyer followed her and stayed quiet all the way back to her house. Their eyes met once, and he made her smile weakly. When they reached her house Kate turned toward him and shook her head.

"Thanks," she whispered. "Sawyer, I really think you should go home. Wait for Claire."

"No way," he shook his head. "You ain't getting rid of me that easily."

He followed her into the house and into her room. He stayed with her the entire day. They stayed quiet for the most part, but sometimes they spoke softly. Sawyer changed the subject from how horrible Kate was feeling about Jack, to him being a dad and she let out a soft laugh.

**2 Weeks Later**

Claire was supposed to be coming home today. Sawyer walked up her front steps and went to the door. Before he got to the door he could hear Aaron crying. His mouth got very dry, when he started thinking about the fact that Claire might be pregnant. He knocked on the door, and really hoped that it would be Claire that answered the door. Much to his dismay and discomfort it was her mom.

"Hi," he mumbled.

"Hi Sawyer," she answered. "Claire went to your house. I told her she could have an hour, but then she needs to come home to take care of Aaron."

"Ok," he whispered.

"Sawyer wait," she sighed. "Look. I'm sorry that I was such a bitch to you. I just-you don't know what it's like to have your baby have baby. She had him when she was 15. And then we come here to start over and she starts having sex again. I was just so scared that she was going to get pregnant again."

"It's ok," he whispered. "I guess I understand."

"You can come for dinner if you want," she said softly.

Sawyer nodded and went back to his house. She was sitting on his front porch when he came up his driveway. She jumped off the porch and ran toward him. He hugged her and spun her around. He set her down and she leaned toward him and kissed him.

"I missed you so much," she stated.

"I missed you too baby," he answered, somewhat nervously.

"So what did you do all summer?" she asked.

"Hung with Kate," he shrugged. "We really didn't do much. Just watched TV, and went to the beach."

"I'm sorry that I didn't call you much," she sighed. "I just-it was hard. It was really hard. To hear your voice and know I coudn't touch you."

"Well it was hard for me too," he shook his head. "But I would have rather talked to you than not. I mean...I really missed you. It just would have been nice to see what you were up to."

"I didn't want to ruin my first night back with telling you what I need to tell you," she started. "But you deserve to know."

"I already kinda have an idea," he mumbled.

"I slept with Thomas," she frowned.

"You what?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled. "He came over and he just wanted to see Aaron, but my mom had taken him for the night to give me a break, and-I'm so sorry. We started kissing and I dunno. One thing lead to another and we had sex. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," he shook his head and turned back around to leave.

"Sawyer!" she exclaimed "Wait!"

"I spent my entire summer thinking about you," he said turning around. "Did you even think about me once?"

"Yes," she answered. "Of course I did. Sawyer I love you."

"Was it more than once?" he asked.

"What?" she shook her head.

"You heard me," he replied, leaning closer to her. "Did you have sex with him more than once?"

"Yes," she whispered and nodded.

"That's all I need to know," he scoffed. "I gotta get outta here."

"Sawyer please," she pleaded and sobbed.

"Why don't you go call Thomas for comfort because I can't even look at you. And you know another thing? Me and Kate...we kissed. She comforted me and kissed me."

"You're just saying that to hurt me," she sniffled.

"Nope," he answered. "I kissed her 3 weeks ago. And you know what? I felt really guilty, but I guess I didn't reallly have to feel guilty. It was just a kiss. We didn't go any farther than that. I just can't believe that I thought I loved you."

"I love you Sawyer," she sobbed.

"Too bad," he shook his head and walked away. Claire knew that she shouldn't follow him. She watched him until she couldn't see him anymore and then went back home. Sawyer was on the path to Kate's house. He walked as fast as he could and ran up the steps to her house. He didn't knock, but just let himself in. Rose was sitting in the front room with a book.

"James," she said softly and sweetly. "How are you doing today?"

"Alright," he mumbled.

"Kate's in her room," she continued. "She's listening to her headphones so you might have to knock kinda loud."

"Wasn't planing on knocking," he mumbled softly.

He went to her room, and opened her door. Kate was laying on her stomach on the bed listening to the music. Her hair was down which Sawyer hadn't seen her with her hair down the entire summer. It was messy and curly, but still pretty. She was bobbing her head to the music and hadn't noticed that Sawyer walked though the door. Sawyer reached forward and touched her leg softly. She quickly spun around and pulled her headphones off.

"Hey," she said, catching her breath from being startled. "What are you-"

Before Kate could finish her sentence Sawyer grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. He kissed her lips and she kissed him back. She breathed in deeply and pulled him on top of her. She took a deep breath and turned away from his kiss.

"Sawyer," she whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Getting even," he answered and kissed her again.

"What?" she asked, with a slight smile.

"Shh," he shook his head. "Just know that I need to kiss you. We're getting over Jack and Claire."

"Ok," she nodded. She leaned up and kissed him again.

**A/N: Ok...so it will stay Skatey for a little bit...but like I said before Jate is still far from over. Anyway please review!!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: To my awesome reviewers…  
****Unhappy Jater-I understand that you're unhappy…I actually commend you for continuing to read because I a lot of times can't even bring myself to read Jate stories (because I'm the biggest Skater in the universe…lol…I've gotten into arguments about why Skate is forever fate). Because of my hardcore skateness, that is why I am writing some Skate chapters. I'm trying to make everyone happy. Don't worry Sawyer and Kate do not have sex in this chapter. That would definitely be too fast. I'm not sure if you watched Dawson's Creek at all, but that is what this is based off of, and this isn't exactly what happened, but similar.  
****SkateNowandForever-LOL. Yeah I feel Boo on Jate most of the time too…however I feel like this is one of my better stories and it does feature some Jate. I just can't freaking wait till the real show and till Kate actually does end up with Sawyer, and then all of us Skaters can go "Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah…toldja so!!" lol.  
****Lizi-I'm glad you liked my chapter. I still have not changed my mind on how it's going to end. I hope that you continue to read even though you're a Jater.  
****Katezilla-I love Skate too. Thanks for thinking I rock. You rock too for your sweet reviews!!  
****OK so this one is jumpy and moves fast, but I just wanna get to it! Haha. I have lots of ideas, but they're ****for later on. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

Sawyer left her lips and kissed her on the side of the face and then moved to her neck. Kate sighed softly and then sat up and pushed him off of her.

"Sawyer," she whispered. "What the hell are we doing? We ca-"

"Yeah we can," he sat narrowing his eyes. "Jack broke your heart didn't he…well Claire cheated on me."

"She did?" Kate asked softly. She touched his cheek softly and shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I'm not," he scoffed. "She can go to hell. Kate…we have all the time in the world now. We can actually be together. We can make out without feeling guilty."

"That's not exactly true Sawyer," she shook her head. "Look…I've told you…yes-I liked kissing you. I haven't been kissed like that-well ever. I mean Jack can kiss, but I dunno, something about kissing you-it doesn't matter. Sawyer, it can't happen."

"Why not?" he asked softly, almost pathetically.

"Because of Jack," she answered.

"I thought he broke up with you," he argued. "I thought that you were devastated because he broke up with you. I mean you were standing by that tree because you were upset right? I'm not crazy."

"You're not crazy," she nodded. "But-I dunno. I'm already on thin ice with him, I just don't want to make things worse. We just started junior year. I want us to all be friends again. I want to get it all back. Back to when we were all just friends and happy."

"I doubt that will ever happen Freckles," he mumbled. "But if that's what you want…ok."

"It is," she smiled.

**3 Weeks Later **

Kate was standing at her locker trying to get it opened. She finally did, and then Sawyer ran past her and slammed it shut. She scoffed at him, and watched him walk away. She sighed to herself. Things hadn't been the same since she turned him down. She never meant for anything to be this screwed up. She had enjoyed kissing Sawyer, and he really made her feel good, but she didn't want to hurt Jack either. She and Jack had still been keeping their distance from each other. It was beginning to frustrate her that Jack and her weren't best friends anymore. She tried to open her locker again, but was having some problems yet again.

"Need some help?" Jack asked, walking over to her and taking hold of the locker handle. He opened it for her and smiled.

"So," he cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight. Y'know movie and game night. It's been a while since we did that."

"Ok," she nodded and smiled. "Are you going to invite Sawyer?"

"No," he scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Why would I invite him?"

"Because he's your best friend," she shrugged. "I dunno. I just don't like seeing the two of you this way. Fighting…and fighting because of me. It's just weird and awkward. I mean-I am sorry that you had to find out about us the way you did, but-"

"You know what Kate, I really don't want to talk about it," he shook his head. "I'll see you later tonight."

"Ok," she whispered.

She walked down the hall to her chemistry class. Sawyer just so happened to be in the class with her. She wasn't very happy that she had to see him every day…especially when he would barely even look at her. She sighed softly and sat on the other end of the classroom from him. She looked at him and watched as he started taking notes.

"We're going to get into pairs and do the lab assignment," the teacher stated. She started pairing people up and Kate's heart started pounding. She didn't seem to have any kind of system for pairing people, which made her nervous. "Kate, and uh James."

Kate looked at Sawyer and closed here eyes. She got up and went over to where he was and he silently went over to the lab area. Kate followed him and they started working almost in complete silence.

"Sawyer we're going to have to talk to do this," Kate sighed.

"Fine, can you hand me that beaker?" he asked.

"I'm going to Jack's tonight," she said softly.

"Good for you," he scoffed.

The rest of the class time, they didn't talk unless they had to talk about the assignment. After class Sawyer went over to his desk and started packing away his things. Kate went over to him and sat down.

"Sawyer," she started.

"I'm kinda busy Kate, I gotta go," he mumbled.

"Sawyer, dammit stop it!" she said loudly. "This sucks just as much for me as it does for you. I'm just as upset. This summer…it was one of the best summers of my entire life. And it had to do completely with you. I like you Sawyer-"

"Then why can't we be together?" he whispered.

"You know why," she sighed. "Sawyer, me and Jack are hanging out tonight. The first time in 3 weeks. We're actually getting our friendship back."

"I'm sure he's not gonna see it that way," he answered. "Jack is doing this to get close to you again. So that you get back together."

"I'm not getting back together with him," she replied. "Sawyer…I need some time alone. Jack knows that."

"Then why are you going over there?" he frowned.

"As friends," she sighed. "I need some time alone, like as in single. I mean with no boyfriend. No kissing. It's just all screwed up Sawyer so I need to be by myself."

"Fine," he said. "Believe it or not Freckles, I do understand that. Maybe while you're at Jack's it would be the perfect time for me to try and salvage something with Claire. I miss her a lot. I just-Kate do you miss me?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Of course I miss you. I miss hearing the name Freckles, and I miss irritating the hell out of you."

"I miss it too," he answered. "So-do you think maybe tomorrow we can go to the movies?"

"Ok," she whispered.

"Ok," he smiled.

That night Kate was laying next to Jack on his bed. They were watching the movie, but Kate kept seeing Jack looking at her. It was making her really uncomfortable. She had been telling Sawyer the truth when she said that she didn't want a boyfriend right now. Since everything was so confusing she thought it would be much better just to be alone. She hoped that Sawyer wasn't going to try anything when they went to the movies tomorrow.

"Kate," Jack whispered. "I miss you."

"I'm right here," she shrugged. "But I guess I know what you mean. I just-it's like I told Sawyer…I really just want to be alone for a while. Like no boyfriend."

"You talked to Sawyer about it?" he asked. "When?"

"In chem. class," she scoffed. "There's no rule that I can't talk to him Jack. Just because the two of you are pissed off at each other doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to talk to him."

"Fine," he sighed. "I don't want to talk about him anymore. So I wanted to ask you something."

"Ok," she answered slightly concerned.

"Do you want to go to dinner tomorrow?" he asked. "Y'know…just as friends."

"I can't," she said, somewhat guiltily.

"Why?" he questioned. "It's not like you have a date…you just said two seconds ago that you didn't want a boyfriend-"

"I'm going to the movies with Sawyer," she interrupted. "And he knows that it's just as friends, but he told me that he missed me…and to be honest I missed him too. I spent every single day with him for 3 months. Every day Jack. We got to know each other really well, and we really care about each other. So I owe him at least as much as going out to the movies."

"Fine," he mumbled. "See if I care."

Kate and Sawyer were meeting at the theater. He was standing next to the ticket booth waiting for her. She wasn't wearing make-up and it made him smile. He held out his hand and she took it somewhat cautiously.

"I already bought your ticket Freckles," he whispered.

"Thanks," she answered. "But this isn't a date."

"I can't be nice?" he asked.

"No," she responded with a smile. "I just want-Sawyer I don't want you to have any expectations. I'm not going to kiss you goodnight. This isn't a date."

"Ok," he answered.

Throughout the movie Sawyer kept putting his arm on the back of her chair and then taking it off again. Kate could tell that he was nervous.

"Ain't got nothin' to be nervous about cowboy, this isn't a date," she said half way though the movie.

He walked her home and when she went up her steps he followed her. He leaned toward her to kiss her on the cheek. Kate knew that he was going for her cheek, but she turned her face so that their lips connected. She put her hands on the back of his neck and leaned further into the kiss. Neither of them heard the front door open until they heard a soft throat clearing. Kate looked at her aunt Rose and turned a dark shade of red. Sawyer left the porch and nearly tripped down the steps. Kate let out a soft chuckle and waved at him.

"Goodnight Sawyer," she said.

"'night," he answered. Kate turned back toward her aunt and then noticed that Jack was sitting on the couch right near the door. She was sure that he had seen at least some of the interaction between her and Sawyer.

"I'm sorry honey," Rose shook her head. "He wouldn't leave until you came back home. He said that there was something important that he wanted to talk to you about."

"OK," she whispered. She walked into the house and looked at Jack, slightly annoyed. "What are you doin' here Jack?"

"Well we're friends," he shrugged. "I thought that we could hang out after you went to the movies with Sawyer. I mean it's only 10:00. We used to hang out till all hours in the morning. So do you wanna go on a walk."

"I dunno," she answered. "Jack this is all so screwed up."

"Like you standing on the front porch making out with Sawyer, when you specifically told me that you didn't want a relationship?" he asked. "I mean Kate…you just told me that you didn't want a relationship. Don't tell me that you're just friends with Sawyer."

"I don't think any of us will ever just be friends again. I mean Jack…I loved you so much. I did," she sighed. "And I still do, but there's just something about Sawyer. I don't know how to stop all these feelings that I'm having for him."

"Easy…stop seeing him," Jack replied.

"Are you saying we won't be friends, unless I stop seeing Sawyer?" she half scoffed.

"I just don't see how I can be friends with you if you're pining after my best friend," he answered.

"Jack it took you ages to realize that you actually had any feelings for me," she argued. "And now all the sudden because you can't have me, you're freaking out. It's not fair. You're not being fair to me. Sawyer would never make me chose between the two of you."

"Oh," he shook his head. "Sawyer is so perfect-"

"No one is perfect," she replied. "Not even you Jack…but there's a difference between wanting to tell me what to do, and wanting me to actually be happy."

"Does he actually make you happy?" Jack asked quietly, almost hurt.

"This summer was a good one Jack," she answered. "I thought it was going to be horrible without you, and Sawyer just made it amazing."

Jack frowned at her, stood up and left the house quickly. Kate followed him and ran after him when he started running Jack caught up to Sawyer and shoved him to the ground. Kate arrived at the scene just in time to see Sawyer stand up and lunge at Jack. They both started swearing and screaming at each other.

"Stop!" Kate screamed. She finally got between them, and they both stopped.

"She wouldn't have even looked twice at you if you hadn't taken advantage of her!" Jack exclaimed.

"Shut up," Sawyer scoffed. "She wouldn't have even needed me for comfort if you had actually been here for her."

"At least once I become a doctor I'll be able to afford to take care of her, what do you have to offer her?"

"Stop it!" Kate exclaimed and scoffed. "Both of you. I don't like the two of you fighting over me."

"It's not even a fight," Sawyer answered. "She told us both that she didn't want a boyfriend…but she kissed me Jack. She kissed me. I didn't kiss her tonight…but she kissed me first. So that says to me that she wants me way more than she wants you."

"Sawyer, please," Kate said furrowing her eyebrows and begging him. "Don't."

"Look," Jack stated. "You're gonna make her cry. I've never done that."

"Ha!" Sawyer exclaimed. "If memory serves me she was crying that day you dumped her…I would never break her heart. Kate…come on…you know what we have is real."

"It is," she whispered and nodded. "But it doesn't change my feelings for Jack. Dammit I hate this! I just want-"

"Kate you know what you want," Jack said. "You know how you feel. Only you know-so you have to make a choice."

"Yeah," she answered. "And if I pick Sawyer you'll never forgive me and we can never be friends. And vice versa. If I pick you…Sawyer won't be able to be friends with me anymore."

"Freckles," Sawyer whispered and stepped toward her. He put his hands against her cheeks and looked at her. "You and I will always be friends. And he's right…you gotta make a choice. You do. So I'm gonna leave you alone until you do. I'm just going to ask you, just this once…pick me."

Kate let out a soft sob, and Sawyer gently brushed his lips against hers. He walked away from her, leaving her and Jack standing alone.

"Please," Jack scoffed, and half mocked Sawyer's plead.

"Well do you have any final thoughts?" she asked turning toward him.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You know where your heart lies Kate. You and I both know who you love…so all you gotta do is tell Sawyer."

Kate looked at her feet and nodded. She walked back to her own house and laid down in bed. Sawyer and Jack's words kept running over in her head all night. She hardly slept. She knew that she was going to need way more than just one night to figure out who she was supposed to be with.

**3 Months Later**

It was Christmas eve. Kate was sitting on the floor in the living room. Her aunt and uncle were sitting on the couch and all three of them were watching It's A Wonderful Life. Kate could hear Rose sniffling. Rose always cried at the end of the movie. She heard some noises coming from outside and walked over to the front door. Jack and Sawyer were both making their way up the steps.

All three of their friendships were still strained, but Kate had decided to just stay friends with both of them. Sometimes she would catch Sawyer's eye in Chemistry class and he would give her a smile. She still couldn't help but feel an attraction to him. She knew that both Jack and Sawyer cared a lot about her, but she just couldn't bring herself to make a choice. She didn't want to lose either of them. The thing that she thought was good, but at the same time was slightly jealous is that Sawyer and Claire had made up too. He forgave her for what she did. But they weren't actually together. They both decided that it was too hard for them to be together when she had Aaron to worry about. Claire hardly ever did anything, besides go to school, and go home to take care of Aaron.

Kate put her coat on and went out to the porch. She sat down on the steps and Sawyer and Jack each took a spot on either side of her.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hi," Sawyer smiled. "Gotcha somethin'."

Kate took a large box from him and smiled. Jack turned red and shook his head. He put a small box on top of the bigger box.

"I got you something too," he said softly.

"Hold on," she stated. "Lemme go get your gifts."

She stood up and went back into the house. She was back seconds later, with a package for both of them. She and Sawyer's fingers brushed against each other as she handed him his present.

"Which one should I open first?" she asked.

"Mine!" they both exclaimed. She chuckled and they glared at each other.

"Fine," Sawyer shrugged. "Jack's-mine is a little more personable so you might as well save best for last."

"Sawyer stop," Kate whispered. "It's Christmas. Let's just for one day all get alone."

"Alright," he mumbled.

Kate picked up Jack's smaller box and opened it with a grin. When she got through the wrapping paper, there was a small box sitting on her lap. Kate was pretty sure that it was a jewelry box, but she couldn't really jump to conclusions. It was usual for them all to try and trick each other with different types of boxes. She opened the emerald green box and staring back at her was a diamond tennis bracelet. She gasped loudly and nearly dropped the box.

"Jack," she said. "I can't take this."

"Don't be silly," he stated. "Of course you can."

He helped her put the bracelet on and held her wrist a little bit longer than he had to. He pulled her toward him and kissed her on the cheek.

"Can I open mine?" he asked.

"Seems a little stupid now," she mumbled. "Mine isn't nearly as extravagant."

He smiled at her and opened the wrapping paper. She got him a tie with stethoscopes on it and a book about golf. Sawyer let out a soft scoff and chuckle.

"Thanks," Jack smiled widely and hugged her awkwardly.

"My turn?" Sawyer said interrupting the awkward but somewhat sweet moment.

"Yeah," Kate nodded.

"You go first Freckles," he smiled.

Kate opened the box and in the box was another box. It went on like that till there was a shoe box sized box sitting on her lap. She rolled her eyes but laughed at him. She ripped the paper off and sure enough there was a shoe box underneath.

"Freckles," he began. "Before you take off the lid. Do you remember the first movie we saw this summer? That movie you dragged me too, but ended up being kinda good? Don't say it out loud."

"I remember," she nodded. She took the lid off the box and Sawyer had bought the movie Just Friends for her. She chuckled and looked at him with a smile.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"There's something else in there Freckles," he smiled. "Who's my favorite author?"

"What?" she chuckled.

"Who is my favorite author. Which author did we read all summer?" he asked.

"Judy Blume," she answered.

"Ok," he smirked. She sifted through the paper and found the book at the bottom of the box. When she pulled it out of the box, she looked like she might cry, but instead she let out a hearty laugh. He had gotten her the book Freckle Juice. She wrapped her arms around him and laughed again.

"Whoever wants to get freckles is crazy," she shook her head.

"Yours a cute," he told her.

"I thought you would like it Kate," Jack mumbled, staring at her wrist. "I thought of you when I saw it."

"Jack I do like it," she answered. "It's beautiful. I love it."

"Good," he said.

"Sorry…I didn't have much money," Sawyer shrugged. "The movie was like 10 bucks, and the book I got in the 99 cent bin at the used book store."

"Sawyer money doesn't always buy happiness…you should know that," Kate smiled. "And money doesn't buy love either Jack. I mean it's gorgeous and I love it…but just because you bought me an expensive piece of jewelry doesn't mean I'm ready to make a choice. Same goes for you Sawyer."

"I know," he whispered.

**3 and a half months later**

It was prom time. Since they were all in 11th grade they could all go. Jack and Sawyer both hadn't asked Kate to go yet, but she had a feeling they both would. She was once again shopping for a dress…and this time Claire actually came with her. She hadn't hung out with her in a long time.

"Kate," Claire said softly. "I have to tell you something."

"What?" Kate asked.

"Sawyer asked me to prom," she answered.

"What?" Kate repeated.

"It was-" she began. "I was at his house studying for that huge math exam, and we just got to talking about the prom, and it just kinda came out that I wasn't going. He told me that I had to, and I asked him if he had a date, and he said no, that you'd probably go with Jack…so he asked me."

"Oh," she murmured. "Well Jack hasn't asked me yet."

"He will," Claire smiled.

Kate looked at Claire and tried to smile, but she was still upset that Sawyer and her were going to be going together. Since Sawyer found someone else to go, part of her was slightly worried that Jack would find someone else too.

Prom was going to be in a week, and still Jack hadn't asked her. Kate was sitting in the lunch room alone. She felt people coming toward her and saw Sawyer and Claire. They both sat down, Sawyer almost directly next to her.

"Can we sit here Freckles?" he asked.

"Of course," she smiled.

"Oh, they charged me for a soda, but didn't give me one," Claire said "I'll be right back."

"I'm sorry Kate," Sawyer whispered in her ear.

"For what?" she asked.

"Not asking you," he mumbled.

"Well," she shrugged. "It's my own damn fault for not making a choice yet. But I'm glad you and Claire are back to being friends."

"Me too," he nodded. "And we are. I mean-that's all it is Kate. I'm not going with her so that I get some at the end of the night…I'm not going with her in a dating capacity…and she knows that."

"Are you sure?" Kate asked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Because Sawyer, the last thing we need in all this, is more broken hearts."

"Hey!" Jack said from behind them. "How are you Kate? There's something I've been meaning to ask you…will you go to prom with me?"

Kate was taken aback, and slightly upset that Jack would ask her right in front of Sawyer. She felt like he was trying to rub it in Sawyer's face a little bit.

"Yeah," she nodded. He hugged her, and Kate looked over his shoulder at Sawyer. Sawyer gave her the thumbs up, and she couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

**Prom Night**

Kate and Jack walked into the prom with their arms hooked together. Jack lead them over to an empty table and they sat down together. He was smiling at her, which was making her smile right back. She didn't know if she would even see Sawyer and Claire there, but just as she was wondering they walked through the door and came right to their table. Sawyer looked good, but uncomfortable. Claire was wearing a gold dress that looked amazing on her. Kate's dress was a light orange shade. She smiled up at Sawyer, who suddenly looked like he couldn't speak. He took her by the hand and leaned down to her ear.

"You look gorgeous, Freckles," he whispered.

She smiled up at him, and didn't take her hand back right away. Jack noticed it and put his hand against her shoulder. She turned toward him and smiled at Jack too.

"Shall we?" he asked, motioning toward the dance floor. Kate raised her eyebrows, as this was a very non-likely thing for Jack to offer. Even though they were at the prom, Kate didn't think they'd be doing much dancing. Especially to the faster songs. But Kate nodded and followed him out on to the dance floor. Claire and Sawyer sat down and Sawyer watched her.

"Sawyer," Claire said softly. "Sawyer…you're gonna get your heart broken."

Sawyer turned toward her, and Claire had an almost pained look on her face. She let out a sob and shook her head.

"But," she began. "Sawyer do you love her?"

"I dunno," he mumbled.

"Yes you do know," she answered. "Don't try and make me feel better, just because you don't want to hurt my feelings. Please…just tell me the truth."

"Yeah," he whispered. "I love her."

"Ok," she sniffled. "It's ok. I just-Sawyer, she's not going to pick you, but you'll never know if you don't try…so you need to go cut in for a dance and try to win her heart."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," he shook his head. "Claire are you serious. I mean-what about us? I just don't want to think that-"

"Oh," she shook her head and let out another sniffle. "Don't you worry about me…I already have a number one man in my life. He's more important to me than anything…and Kate's important to you. If you don't try…even if you don't think you have a chance…Sawyer you'll spend the rest of your life wondering. So go…go."

Before he could move to go get her, Kate put her hand on his shoulder. He noticed that a slower song had started, and she was standing over him.

"Can I have a dance?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," he nodded.

He followed her on to the dance floor. Under any other normal circumstance he would have been thinking about where Jack was, and what he was going to think about it, but all thoughts of Jack left his mind…and Kate's too. Sawyer smiled and encircled his arms around her waist. He rested his hands on her hips and she stepped toward him.

"You're a good dancer Freckles," he whispered.

"Not so bad yourself J-Sawyer," she said softly.

"Do you wish I were Jack?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head. "I was gonna call you James, before I remembered how much you hated it."

"The way you say my name Freckles,' he shrugged. "Kinda makes me hate it less."

She smiled at him. As the song continued Sawyer ran his hands over Kate's back and shoulders. Her dress was a halter dress, so her back and shoulders were exposed. Sawyer was surprised that Kate was ok with wearing something like this, but she looked so gorgeous that he didn't even care if she was uncomfortable.

"You look gorgeous," he whispered.

"You already said that," she said stepping toward him again.

"Don't make it any less true," he told her. She put her face against his and closed her eyes.

"You smell good," they both said at the same time. Kate let out a chuckle, but it sounded somewhat like a sob. Sawyer backed away only enough to look at her face. She was smiling but she had a few tears in her eyes too.

"This is perfect Freckles," he whispered. "This is the way prom was supposed to be."

She didn't want to ruin the moment by saying anything. She still wasn't sure about who she wanted to choose…they were both different, and she knew that they both loved her. She loved them both too, but just in different ways. She opened her eyes and saw Jack standing across the room with two cups of punch, and he looked really pissed. He shook his head, put the punch down on a table and left the building. Kate sighed and shook her head.

"Go on Freckles," he said. "Thanks for the dance."

He walked away from her and she followed Jack. She went outside and saw him loosening in tie and starting to walk toward his house.

"Jack!" she exclaimed.

"How could you?!" he asked. "At prom? I mean-you know how I feel about you…and you know damn well how I feel about Sawyer…and to just do that…right in front of me?"

"Jack I'm sorry," she shook her head. "What did you think would happen? I have all these feelings coursing through my body…I know that you wanted to make this night magical so that I would pick you…but I'm sorry, that's just not the way that it works. Jack I care so much about you and about us…but if you're making me choose right here and now…I'm sorry, but I can't."

"Not right here and now," he mumbled, stepping toward her. "I just want to know if it will be sometime. I want to know if eventually you'll actually make a choice between us."

"I will," she nodded. "I will make a choice eventually…I promise."

Jack walked away from her, leaving her to ponder her thoughts in the middle of the sidewalk. She decided that she would just go home, take her dress off, and scrape all the make-up off her face. She walked slowly back to her house. She was walking so slowly she felt like she was going backwards. When she got to her driveway she saw a dark figure sitting on the porch. She walked up to the house and saw Sawyer sitting there. She sighed and sat down next to him.

"How did you beat me home?" she asked softly.

"Snuck out during your argument with Jack," he answered. "I didn't really hear much…just that he's pissed you were dancing with me."

"He wants me to make a choice. And I think I'm finally ready to," she told him.

He turned toward her hopefully…

**A/N: OK. So Review?**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews that I got from you guys. I hope you enjoy this chapter. And I hope that you don't all hate me. : ).**

She turned toward Sawyer and took a deep breath.

"Is it ok if I go change?" she asked. "I don't want to be in this dress anymore."

"First," he whispered. "Tell me if I should just go home."

"Don't go anywhere," she smiled.

Sawyer followed her into the house and waited in the living room, while Kate walked back into her bedroom. He was kind of wondering where Kate's aunt and uncle were because they weren't home. He sat down on the couch and shook his head. Kate was gone for what seemed like a long time. When she reemerged from her bedroom she was wearing a pair of comfy pants and a t-shirt. Sawyer noticed that she had taken off all her make-up too. She sat down next to him. She took a deep breath and looked at him.

"You look gorgeous," he mumbled.

"I'm not even in my dress anymore," she said.

"Well," he whispered. "It don't make it any less true."

"Is there anything else that you can say tonight?" she asked.

"Nope," he shook his head. "Now are you gonna tell me, because the suspense is killin' me."

"What do you think?" she whispered. He didn't hesitate before pulling her toward him and kissing her lips. She smiled widely and kissed him back. She laid down on the couch with him. He kissed her and ran his hands down her body. They both heard something on the front porch but neither of them stopped.

"Sure thing honey, she's probably-" Rose began, but then stopped. Kate stopped too, and sat up. She looked at Jack, who stared at her for what seemed like a really long time, but was only a few seconds. He turned around and started walking away.

"Jack!" Kate exclaimed. "Wait! Sawyer-"

"Go on," Sawyer sighed. "I ain't goin' nowhere."

She looked at him gratefully and then stood up and went after Jack. He was walking slowly which partly surprised Kate. She was sure that he would have ran all the way home, not wanting to talk to her. She caught up to him quickly and stopped him from walking.

"I'm sorry ok?" she asked. "I didn't-"

"It doesn't matter," he shrugged. "You had to hurt one of us right?"

"Jack," she half sobbed. "I don't want you to hate me."

"Well sometimes you can't get what you want Kate," he answered, walking away from her. Kate breathed in deeply and let Jack walk away from her. She knew that he didn't really mean what he was saying, but she couldn't help but feel the sting from what he said. She nodded and walked back toward her house. When she went inside Sawyer was gone. She gasped softly, wishing that he had stayed and looked at Roes who was sitting on the couch.

"Come here honey," Rose said softly. Kate cautiously walked toward her aunt and sat down. "I just wanted to tell you that I think it's brave that you made a choice, but you're going to lose both of them, if you can't stick with a choice. I don't want you to get hurt, but James and Jack are the ones who are gonna end up with broken hearts Kate. You should have seen the look on Sawyer's face when you went after Jack."

"Rose," Kate sighed. "Of course I don't want to hurt him...I just chose him. I only went after Jack because he's my best friend and I just wanted-I wanted to explain I guess."

"Well, like I said Kate, I don't want you to get hurt, but I don't want to see them get hurt either. Now…you have someone waiting for you in your bedroom…promise me one thing before you go in there."

"What?" Kate said perking up, and knowing that Sawyer was waiting for her in her room.

"Don't go too fast," she whispered. "I don't want to embarrass you sweetie, but just-don't let him try and force you to do anything you're not ready for."

"He wouldn't ever force me," Kate shook her head and smiled.

"Alright," Rose sighed. "Me and your uncle got a hotel room tonight, so have a good night."

Rose kissed Kate on the cheek and got up to leave. Kate could hardly believe that Rose and Bernard would be gone the whole night, but at the same time, she should have expected it since they were hardly ever there. She stood up and went into her bedroom. Sawyer was sitting on the floor, running his hand over the carpet. He looked bored, and upset. She frowned and sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"He's always gonna try and come between us isn't he?" he asked.

"I won't let him," she shook her head. "Plus…he just told me he hated me."

"You know that was a lie," Sawyer answered with a soft smile. "I just don't want to spend the night kissing you, if you're gonna be worried about Jack."

"I'm not," she answered. "Sawyer…I'm-I mean I do feel guilty, but I'm not thinking about him right now. I promise."

He smiled, and put his hand on the back of her neck. He ran his hand down her shoulder and then back up to her neck. She leaned in and kissed his lips. They laid down and started kissing harder. Kate ran her hands up his shirt. He let out a soft breath and kissed the side of her face.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too, Freckles," he stated touching her face.

They started kissing faster, and Kate started pulling at his shirt. He was still wearing his tuxedo. She started unbuttoning the buttons and smiling up at him. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders, and ran her hands down his strong shoulders. She sat up and started to take her shirt off. Sawyer stopped her and pulled it back down to cover her.

"What?" she asked.

"Freckles," he said softly. "I know you're not ready for this. I mean-it's way too fast. You just made your choice tonight. You don't want-"

"I know what I want," she whispered.

"Let's just wait," he replied. "We can wait and make it really special when it does happen."

"You don't want me," she frowned.

"Don't be like that," he shook his head. "Of course I do. I just can tell that you're nervous…I mean Kate, look at yourself. You're shaking. You don't want to do this tonight. I just don't want to do something that you might end up regretting. Kate you mean so much to me…I love you. So I can wait as long as you need to."

"Hmm," she said quietly. "The more we're talking about this the more you're making me want to."

He kissed her on the forehead and wrapped his arms around her. They spent the rest of the night holding each other. They didn't even kiss again. Sawyer read to her and they kept their hands intertwined. Kate fell asleep to the sound of Sawyer's voice.

In the morning Sawyer woke up with his arms still around Kate. Kate was snoring softly and he found it almost cute. He kissed her on the forehead, and tried his best to leave the bed without waking her up. But it was to no avail and she moaned and turned over.

"Did you sleep ok?" she asked.

"Hell of a lot better than the floor," he answered, walking toward her. "How about you?"

"I slept good," she nodded. He leaned toward her and kissed her lips.

**3 Weeks Later**

It was summer vacation finally. While school was still in session, Kate and Sawyer didn't really kiss or show much affection. Mainly because Kate didn't want to upset Jack. But Sawyer would always find a way to touch her in the hallway. Now that it was summer, it didn't matter as much

They were walking to the beach together. Sawyer was tormenting Kate as usual, but this time it was by grabbing her butt. She kept pushing him away, but at the same time a part of her enjoyed his flirtation. When they got to the beach there were a ton of people there, which was highly unusual. They found a spot to sit down. Kate sat down on a towel. She had left her beach chair at home. Sawyer sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She looked at him and smiled.

"You know that we're not gonna be able to sit like this all day," she told him.

"Why not?" he asked, giving her a sloppy kiss on the neck.

"Because it's gonna get way too hot," she answered. "Plus…neither of us are really into the whole public affection thing. We can wait till we get home tonight."

He kissed her once on the lips and then she turned to look down the beach. She saw Claire and Aaron sitting on the sand by themselves. Aaron was about a year and a half. He was playing with the sand and giggling. Kate looked at Sawyer and then got up.

"I'm gonna go tell them to join us," she said.

"Why" he asked. "Can't we have some time alone?"

"Tonight we'll have the whole night to ourselves," she answered. "But look at her…she's all alone…and not only is she a girlfriend who you were totally in love with…but she was also my friend."

"I don't know if she'll want to," he shrugged.

"If you really don't want me too…I guess I won't-" Kate said softly.

"Nah, go ahead…do what you want," he answered. Kate squeezed his hand, and then got up and went to where Claire was sitting. She saw Kate and smiled.

"Hi," Claire whispered.

"Hey," Kate said. "Are you here by yourself?"

"Actually, I'm meeting Jack here," Claire answered. "But maybe that isn't the greatest of ideas. Maybe I'll just call him and tell him that we'll do something else. I don't know if he's ready to see you guys together like that."

"I'm sorry Claire," she sighed. "This must be so hard for you."

"Yeah," she whispered. "But it's ok. I mean…it's a little weird, but I get that he loves you. I just want him to be happy. I told him to win you back. The way he was looking at you at prom…I knew that he loved you. Jack could never love you the way Sawyer does."

"Well…if you must say stuff like that," Kate began with a smile. "Just don't say it in front of Jack."

"Don't say what?" Jack asked.

"Nothing," Kate shook her head. "We're gonna go…you guys stay."

"Who says we can't share the beach?" Jack asked. Kate looked at him oddly and nodded.

"We can share," she answered.

"Ok," he nodded. "Claire, I think I saw some spots on the beach down there."

Jack pointed down the beach and the two of them started walking toward where he was pointing. Kate watched them walk, and could barely see them when they sat down. She sighed to herself and then walked back to where Sawyer was sitting. She really thought that maybe they could all still be friends, but apparently Jack just wasn't ready yet, not that she could really blame him anyway. She sat down next to Sawyer and he handed her the sun screen. They started putting the sunscreen on and then Sawyer started rubbing it on Kate's back. He kissed her shoulder and she flipped over to face him.

"Sawyer," she whispered.

"They went all the way down the beach," he began arguing. "I want to be able to kiss you on the shoulder without getting crucified. Jack needs to just get over it and deal with it. He lost!"

"Sawyer stop," she shook her head. "First of all I wasn't even going to tell you not to kiss me…I happen to think you're right. Second of all…'Jack needs to get over it'? Come on what if the situation were reversed?"

"But it's not," he answered. "Kate, I want you to be happy. So if you want Jack…go now…before it's too late."

Kate shook her head and sat up. She leaned toward him and kissed him. She didn't notice that he was reaching behind him into the cooler of drinks they had brought. He took a piece of ice out of the cooler and put it on her back. She screamed loudly and shoved him over. They chased each other into the water. They ran down the beach to a much more secluded area of the beach. Sawyer wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a kiss. Her skin was hot and sweating. He picked her up and carried her into the water, and she didn't protest. He dunked her under and she pulled him with her.

"I have a great idea Freckles," he whispered into her ear.

"What?" she asked.

"Ever been skinny dipping?" he asked.

"No," she scoffed. "And it's not gonna happen. I'm just-"

"Not ready to see that much of me?" he questioned with a smirk.

"Not exactly," she shook her head. She jumped up and wrapped her arms and legs around him. He kissed her and then pushed her into the water. Kate stood up and chuckled loudly.

**3 Months Later**

Throughout the entire summer Kate and Sawyer spent as much time as possible together. Even more so than the summer before, which neither of them even knew was possible. The topic of sex was never discussed. Neither of them pushed for it, which upset Sawyer to a certain extent. He remembered how much Kate had wanted to have sex with Jack, but why wasn't she bothering him about it? He was going to ask her tonight.

They spent the night at Kate's house watching movies. In the middle of Sixteen Candles, Sawyer turned toward her and pushed her hair off her face.

"Can I ask you somethin'?" he asked.

"Yeah," she smiled and turned toward him.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" he whispered, turning a light shade of red.

"What?!" she exclaimed. She quickly paused the movie and turned toward him. "What kind of question is that?"

"Obviously a stupid one," he mumbled.

"No...it's not a dumb question," she whispered. "I just don't get why you're asking."

"Because you never ask," he mumbled. "I just-I seem to recall you bothering Jack about having sex all the time...and the only time you ever wanted to have sex was at prom."

"Sawyer," she started. "Yes. I want to have sex with you."

"God…I don't want to be this kind of boyfriend. I'll just drop it."

"Sawyer," she said softly. "What makes you think that I don't want to hve sex with you?"

"Because you've never asked me too. We've made out and that's it," he sighed. "I dunno. Jack made it seem like when the two of you were together that was the only thing you were focused on."

"Well you and Jack are different," she shrugged.

"So you wanted to have sex with him more than you want to have sex with me?" he asked. "I mean-like I said I don't mean to be this way...I don't want to be a stupid jealous boyfriend, especially since you obviously picked me…I just can't help but think maybe you're not as in love with me as you think you are."

"Sawyer," she said softly. "Yes…I'm in love with you. If you would have asked me a year ago who I was going to lose my virginity to, I would have hands down said Jack Shephard…but if you asked me today…my answer would be different."

"So you're saying that you're going to-" he mumbled. "No…I don't want to know the answer to that question."

"I'm saying that I'm older, and wiser, and I'm totally in love with you Sawyer," she whispered. "I'm-do you want to know the Gods honest truth of why I haven't really acted like I've wanted to have sex with you?"

"No-Yeah," he nodded. "Please?"

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"You're scared?" he asked.

"Sawyer," she sighed and pressed her lips together. "I'm really inexperienced. I've-I've never-Sawyer including Jack and you…I've kissed…well no one except that guy at that stupid party."

"Freckles," he said, and put his hand against her cheek.

"And you've had sex with more people than I've kissed."

"You calling me a whore?" he asked with a smile.

"Sawyer it isn't funny!" she exclaimed, but was still smiling. "I just-I'm scared that I won't be able to measure up to all those other girls. And what about Claire? I mean she meant so much to you. You were in love with her…how can I compete with that?"

"Because you're you," he said leaning toward her and kissing her. "Those other girls…they don't even compare to you, Freckles."

"What about Claire?" she asked. "Sawyer…you can't tell me that you're completely over her and don't feel anything for her anymore."

"Kate," he whispered and stroked her hair and cheek softly. "I-yeah. I still care about her. But I fell in love with you…so I know that there's not a chance in hell that you won't be fantastic."

"Don't hype it up so much," she frowned. He leaned toward her and kissed her softly. She sniffled, and started to back away, but then leaned back into the kiss. He laid down and brought her with him. He kissed the side of her face and then moved down to her neck, and then back to her mouth. He ran his hands up her sides. She let out a soft sigh, and lifted his shirt up over his head.

"Kate," he shook his head. "I didn't ask you-"

"I know," she nodded. "But I want to. There is a good thing about you being so experienced…at least you'll know what you're doing."

He smirked down at her and started kissing her again. He carefully started to unbutton her pants, and then stopped. She had a slightly concerned look on her face.

"We don't have to tonight Freckles," he said softly.

"I want to," she repeated. "I'm just a little nervous."

"You don't got nothing to be nervous about. I'll take care of you Kate. I won't hurt you."

* * *

Kate was laying against Sawyer's naked chest. She let out a soft chuckle and then looked up at him. He smiled at her and kissed her on the lips slowly.

"You ok?" he whispered.

"Definitely," she nodded.

"Did you-" he started.

"James Ford don't you dare ruin this moment by finishing that sentence," she interrupted. "And don't worry, I just said the word definitely...it would be redundant for me to say it again…anyway...can we do it again?"

Sawyer smirked at her and kissed her.

**A/N: Don't hate me! I just-I dunno…it felt right for this fic. I know that there are a lot of Jaters that were reading…I really hope I didn't drive you all away. I know that you Skaters in the bunch will be happy, so yay…but for the Jaters, please continue to read and review!!Please please please review!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Awesome reviews as usual!**

**SkateNowandForever-well I was pretty confident that you wouldn't have been upset with me. Haha. I started re-watching all the Lost episodes today with one of my friends, and I kept bitching about Jack, and when Sawyer and Kate had their little gun fight moment I went "It's love!" haha, and my friend went "Not yet!" lol. I think I was starting to annoy her but she's planning on watching all the rest of the episodes with me, and she's also a Skater, so we're gonna have some fun.**

**Midfielder-I appreciate your review. You're absolutely right that I should take the Jack & Kate category away. I totally forgot that it was even under Jate…so thanks. I will change it. I know that I hate when the category says that it's Skate, and then it ends up being like a Skate fight, and ending with Jate. I hope you continue to read.**

**Izabela-I'm glad you enjoyed it! I do really love writing Skate.**

**Katezilla-Hah. I love you too! **

**Ferreple-There will be Jate coming up in future chapters…I'm sorry if the pairing category misled you, but there's still Jate left.**

**Lizi-I'm glad that you like the Skate in this story because there is more to come…however there's more Jate too, just not really in this chapter.**

**Unhappy Jater-yes yes yes…we all can definitely agree that Kate can get rather annoying when it comes to her lack of choice making skills. Today when I started re-watching the episodes my friend and I were making fun of her for going "I'm going to the cockpit…ooh a trek up the mountain…I'm going!" she can never stay in one place, and she can't make a choice between two men who obviously both love her. Hopefully on the show all this madness will end soon, but I know it won't until the very last episode. Anyway as for who she's going to end up with…in one of the previous chapters, I really can't remember which one, I do give a spoiler in an A/N as to who I'm going to have her choose. I've known since the first chapter who Kate's going to end up with, so if you want to know then read my spoiler…it hasn't changed yet.**

Kate opened her eyes, and was still laying naked in Sawyer's arms. She looked around the room and couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. What she saw looked like something out of a movie. Sawyer's shirt was draped messily over the TV, which was still on from the night before. Her bra was on the floor by Sawyer's side of the bed. Other clothes were scattered throughout the bedroom. Kate felt Sawyer shift underneath her. She lifted her head and looked at him.

"Mornin'," he whispered.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Any regrets?" he asked.

"No," she chuckled and shook her head.

"Well good, because school starts in like 20 minutes," he answered.

She gasped loudly and got out of the bed. They both started getting dressed quickly. Sawyer was dressed first and went into the kitchen to get some breakfast. He got them both a pop tart and they headed out the door. Kate's cheeks were bright red and they started walking to school.

"Everyone will know," she whispered.

"What makes you say that Freckles?" he asked with a smile.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Isn't there something about a glow…I just…people are gonna know. Especially Jack."

"I don't think that's necessarily true," he shook his head.

They went into the school together and Sawyer walked her to her locker. He put his hands on her waist and pulled her toward him.

"Just because-" she whispered. "Just because we-doesn't mean we can be-"

"Shh," he said softly. "Katherine Austin, don't you ruin this moment by finishing your sentence."

He leaned in to kiss her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and chuckled. They continued to kiss, until they heard a soft sound of someone clearing their throat.

"'scuse me I need to get to my locker," Jack said. They moved out of the way and Kate looked at Sawyer with a sad look. He shook his head and brushed his fingers over her cheek.

"See ya in an hour," he whispered. He kissed her quickly and walked down the hallway. Kate turned back toward Jack, she was going to say something to him, but he got what he wanted out of his locker and left. She sighed deeply and walked to her class.

Kate and Sawyer were walking back to her house. Sawyer had his arm around her waist and had his hand resting comfortably on her lower back, just above her bottom. They both heard someone walking up behind them quickly. The person brushed passed them, and mumbled get a room. Kate watched as Jack walked away from them. She felt guilty, but at the same time she didn't feel the need to explain herself to him. She had been with Sawyer for the whole summer, and he would have to get over it sooner or later. She didn't even feel the need to follow him to tell him that.

"Y'know," she whispered. "Jack has a point…we should get a room. My aunt and uncle aren't gonna be home until 6:00."

"You doin' that to spite Jack?" Sawyer asked softly.

"No," she answered. "I'm doing that because I love you. And last night was incredibly romantic and amazing."

"Romantic?" he chuckled. "Sixteen Candles was playing in the background. Didn't seem entirely romantic to me."

"Sixteen Candles was on pause in the background," she argued. "Plus…you told me you liked that movie."

"I do," he shrugged.

"Sawyer I care so much about you, and us," she answered. "I want to show you…and I want to show you as much as I possibly can."

Sawyer and Kate walked the rest of the way to the house. They went directly to her room, and then something caught Sawyer's eye and he stopped.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he chuckled.

"Sawyer, just talk to me," she sighed. He picked up a frame which had several different sized boxes in it…all of the frames within the frame were filled with pictures of her and Jack. She walked toward him and took the frame out of his hand.

"I'm never gonna be able to compete," he mumbled.

"Sawyer what are you talking about?" she asked.

"The history," he whispered. "You two have this whole sordid past that I can't even begin to compete with. He knows everything about you."

"He knows my past," she shrugged, and placed the frame face down. "Sawyer, you're the one who I'm with. You're the one I love."

"I just don't see how I'm supposed to compete with him," he whispered.

"Well lemme tell you something. In 9 months when we're all graduating…Jack will be going off to college. He'll be doing what he's wanted to do wince he was 5...become a doctor. I'm getting the hell out of this godforsaken town, and I'm takin' you with me. You can't get rid of me that easily Sawyer."

"I'm just afraid, one day you're going to look back on all this, and you're going to look at these pictures of your best friend, and you're gonna regret it all."

"Regret what?" she asked. "You?"

Sawyer didn't say anything, but his silence spoke volumes. She shook her head and kissed him on his lips. He kissed her back and let out a chuckle.

"I'm an idiot," he shook his head.

"Yes you are," she answered. "But I'm going to forgive you because I love you so much. And Sawyer..it's true. I love you so much."

He ran his fingers through her messy hair and brought her into a kiss. She kissed him back and pushed him toward the bed. She sat down on the edge of the bed and ran her hands down his back.

"You sure about this Freckles?" he asked.

"As about as sure as I was last night," she whispered.

**2 Months Later**

Kate hadn't come to school that day. Sawyer spent the night at her house almost every night, but the previous night Kate complained about not feeling good so he didn't. He didn't really think much of it that she hadn't come to school, since she was sick last night, but he decided to go over to her house and see how she was doing. In fact he was going to be brining her some tomato soup. He let himself in the house, and found that both Rose and Bernard were gone. Which was slightly unusual because whenever Kate was sick at least one of them would stay home and cater to her. But he still didn't think anything of it because they probably just had to work, and Kate was almost 18 she could stay at home by herself. When Sawyer went back toward the bedrooms he heard the shower running. He knocked on the door and let himself in without waiting for an answer. The mirror wasn't foggy from the steam. He walked carefully toward the shower and pulled back the curtain. Kate was sitting on the bathtub floor with her knees pulled up to her chest. The water wasn't warm.

"Kate!" he exclaimed. "Darlin' what happened? What's wrong?"

Kate stayed silent, almost catatonic.

"Alright," he whispered. "It's ok…I'm here."

He helped her stand up and wrapped a towel around her. He lifted her out of the tub and put her down on her feet. Her feet buckled beneath her, probably from being in the cool water for so long. He carried her into her bedroom and helped her dry off. He wrapped her robe around her, not wanting to bother trying to dress her completely.

"Freckles," he said wiping her wet hair out of her face, which was also wet, but not from water, from tears. "Sweetie what happened?"

"I-" she squeaked, but then closed her mouth.

"Ok," he whispered. He laid down with her and rubbed her back to warm her up. She pressed her face into his chest and then backed away.

"Will you promise not to freak out on me?" she asked.

"Well I'm already kinda freaking here Freckles," he answered honestly. "I mean I find you sitting in the shower, you didn't come to school today…I'm pretty sure you're not sick, since you look fine other than the fact that your lips are now purple…but what's going on…just tell me."

"I'm late," she whispered.

**A/N: I know short, and somewhat cruel chapter. Sorry. I hope you all liked it…please please please review! **


	13. Chapter 13

_"I'm Late"_

The words rang though Sawyer's head and made his mouth dry. He shook his head and chuckled softly. Kate looked up at him with a confused look.

"You think this is funny?" she asked. "Sawyer I might be pregnant."

"Well," he shrugged. "You're not."

"What?" she questioned.

"I said…you're not," he repeated.

"Can you just do me a favor?" she started.

"What?" he asked.

"Will you go to the store?" she said. "I mean I know that it's a lot to ask, but I just-I don't want to go in there."

"Hate to break it to ya Freckles, but this is a very small town…if I go to the store and buy you a pregnancy test, people are going to know that it's you anyway."

"I just-" she began.

"Fine," he mumbled. "I'll be right back. The kid's probably not even mine anyway."

"What?!" she exclaimed. The last part was said so softly that she barely heard it, but she did.

"Nothin'," he shook his head. He started to walk toward the door and Kate jumped off the bed after him and slammed the door right after he opened it. She shoved him up against the door and looked at her with tears re-wetting her eyes.

"You think I could cheat on you?" she asked. "I'm not Claire. I wouldn't do that-Sawyer I love you, and I'm so scared. I just-I thought you'd understand. You know what…screw you…I'll go myself. I don't want you to be here when I get back."

She opened the door and pushed him out of the door. She slammed the door shut again and started getting dressed in the bedroom. When she came out of the bedroom Sawyer was still standing outside of the door. She shoved him into the wall angerly and ran past him. She walked down the sidewalk and toward the drug store. Her heart was pounding as she opened the door to the drugstore. When she walked down the aisles she almost felt lost. She looked around her and then turned to go back to a different aisle.

"Katie," a voice said behind her. She closed her eyes and turned toward the voice. "It's been so long. If you ever need anything...I"ll be here honey."

One of her mom's old friends was standing in front of her. She hugged the woman somewhat awkwardly. She couldn't bring herself to buy the test, but instead ran out of the drugstore. She bumped into Shannon on her way out. Shannon looked at her with a slight smile.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," Kate frowned. She walked away from Shannon and flopped down on the bench right outside the drugstore. Shannon followed her and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I thought-" she began. "God, I thought he loved me. I never would have picked him if I knew this was going to happen. I hate him."

"Then why are you so upset?" Shannon asked quietly. "Look…Kate I don't know what happened, but I do know that Sawyer loves you. I've seen the two of you. I've seen the way he looks at you. I know we've never particularly been friends, but-do you wanna talk about it anyway?"

"I'm late," Kate said quietly. "And Sawyer said that if I was then the baby wasn't his. He thinks I could cheat?"

"Are you kidding me?" Shannon chuckled. "Kate he's a guy. He's just a jerk. He was just saying that so that you'd get upset."

"Well it worked," she sighed. "Why would he want to purposely upset me if he really loved me?"

"Kate, are you freaking out about the prospect of being pregnant?" Shannon asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "That's why I wanted my boyfriend to be there for me…not be a jerk."

"It's just his little way of freaking out," Shannon replied. "Now…lemme guess. You went in there to buy one, but couldn't right?"

"Yeah," Kate whispered.

"Ok," Shannon nodded. "Then gimme your money and I'll go buy it."

"Really?" Kate asked.

"No biggie," she answered. Unexpectedly for both of them, Kate flung her arms around Shannon and sniffled. Shannon backed off and smiled weakly at her. Kate gave her the money and Shannon was only gone for 3 minutes. Kate thanked Shannon and started walking back home. When she got there her aunt and uncle were still at work, thankfully. She went into the house and into the bathroom immediately. She took the test and then set it on the side of the sink. She put the toilet lid down and sat down. She put her head down in her hands and sobbed softly. She didn't see anyone come into the bathroom, but then felt two hands on either one of her knees. She gasped and looked up to see Sawyer kneeling in front of her.

"I told you to go home," she sniffled.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I know."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a kiss. She kissed him back but then shook her head. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He put his hands on her cheeks and then opened his eyes again.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I shouldn't-I'm just-I can't be a father. I have nothing. And I'm gonna be stuck in this stupid little po-dunk town my entire life-"

"Shh," she shook her head and put her finger to his lips. "You're not going to be stuck here…I already told ya…I ain't staying here…and if I have anything to say about it you're coming with me. And you don't have nothing…you have me. And to me…that's a lot."

"Yeah," he nodded, and ran his hand down her shoulder. "It is…but pretty soon-Kate I just can't help but think that I'm not good enough for you."

"Sawyer," she whispered. "You're good enough-you're more than good enough. And you really really love me, so that just makes it better."

"I love you Freckles," he whispered. He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She let go of him and then turned back toward the pregnancy test.

"Moment of truth," she said softly. She picked up the test and looked at it. She took a deep breath and then looked back at Sawyer.

"Well?" he asked.

"Negative," she answered with another deep breath. He took a deep breath too and picked her up. He set her back down and shook his head.

"Thank God!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," she whispered. She walked back into the bedroom, and Sawyer followed her, somewhat confused. Kate sat down on the bed and looked up at him.

"Kate," he sighed. "What's the matter with you? You're not pregnant. It's a very good thing. I mean come on!"

"Would it really have been that horrible?" she asked softly.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "What the hell would we have done with a baby?"

"Oh," she shrugged. "I dunno…be a family. Love each other?"

"You don't want a baby Kate," he shook his head. "I'm not the fatherly type…and I have no doubt that you could be a momma, but-I'm a screw up Kate. I can't be anyone's father. All I'm saying is that it's a good thing that you're not pregnant. Can you honestly tell me that you want a baby?"

"No," she sighed. "I don't want a baby. But if I had been I would have kept it…and it would have been our baby Sawyer. I just love you so much…so I would have loved our baby more than my own life. What would you have done."

"Dunno Freckles," he whispered.

"Do you love me?" she frowned.

"What?" he asked running his hand over her face. "Yes. Of course I love you. Why would you even ask that?"

"Because," she half scoffed. "As soon as I told you that I was late you told me that the baby wasn't yours. You told me-"

"Just because I don't want a baby right now, don't mean that I don't love you," he interrupted.

"Why would you say-"

"I already said I was sorry Kate," he whispered. "And I am. I'm really sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I was just freaking out. I didn't know what to do…or how to react. I'm sorry Freckles…can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

He kissed her on the cheek and she nodded and turned her head so their lips touched. Kate wrapped her arms around Sawyer's shoulders and pulled him toward her.

**2 Weeks Later**

Kate was walking down the hallway at school, when suddenly she was grabbed by the arm and dragged into a class room. She was looking at Jack.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Are you pregnant?" he asked. "I mean…I hate to just blurt it out like that, but Shannon told me about the pregnancy test thing, and-I just want to know."

"No," she answered. "I'm not pregnant."

"Oh thank God," he whispered.

"What is it with men?" she scoffed and started walking away.

"Wait," he said grabbing her again. "You can't tell me that you wanted to be pregnant Kate."

"No," she sighed. "I just-Claire's a mom and she does a great job. I just don't think it would have been the worst possible thing in the world, and I feel like everyone else does, think it would be horrible."

"I miss you Kate," he stated quietly. "I miss you and us, and stupid movie nights. I just-do you think we could hang out tonight? My house? You can come for dinner."

"I can't tonight," she replied somewhat guiltily.

"You're going out with Sawyer?" he asked.

"Believe me…it's not even going to be fun," she answered. "I have to go see my dad in jail. I mean…I guess I don't really have to, but he wants me-he's not doing well. So Sawyer's gonna take me…y'know just hold my hand…make sure I'm ok."

"Alright," Jack whispered. "I guess then maybe I'll see you around?"

"How about tomorrow night?" she asked.

"Ok," he nodded.

* * *

Kate and Sawyer were waiting in the area where the families waited for the inmates to be let out for a visit. Kate didn't even bother to stand up when her dad came out into the room. She held on to Sawyer's hand tightly and he squeezed it.

"It'll be ok Freckles," he whispered.

"I dunno," she shook her head.

"Katie," the man she called her father for her whole life walked toward her and hugged her. She hugged him back, but only with one arm. The other hand was still holding on to Sawyer's hand.

"Hi dad," she mumbled.

"Katie," he began. "You look beautiful."

"What do you want?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "You called me here remember? I don't even want to be here…so tell me what you want."

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you Katie," he shook his head. "I didn't-I never meant to hurt you baby. You're my little girl."

"You weren't there when my mom died," she sniffled. "So-tell me…what do you want?"

"Sawyer," he said, changing the subject, not so subtly. "You and Jack taking care of my girl?"

"I am," Sawyer answered.

"Dad, just tell me what the hell you want," Kate scoffed.

"Ok," he sighed. "Here. I just don't want you to hate me."

He reached into his pocket, which made 3 out of the 4 guards look at him cautiously. He handed Kate an envelope and she opened it. She pulled out two pieces of paper stapled together. As she read them she realized that it was a paternity test. One said Samuel Austen, and the other was a name she didn't recognize…Wayne Janssen. She looked at it confused and then looked back at her dad.

"What is this?" she asked softly.

"Katie," he shook his head. "Your mommy and me-"

"Dad," she interrupted. "I'm 18...she's not my mommy anymore. Just tell me."

"I'm trying," he answered. "It's just not exactly easy sweetheart. Remember how I was gone for a while? You know…the war?"

"Yeah," she scoffed. "Of course I remember."

"I was in the war before you were born," he sighed. "Your mother. She didn't think that I took very good care of her."

"How can you take care of someone when you're not around?" she asked.

"Well," he shook his head. "She found someone else to-"

"No," Kate interrupted. "My mother did not sleep with anyone else. She never would have touched anyone else!"

"Wayne was there for her," Sam answered. "I'm so sorry Katie. But I loved you anyway. For all those years I still felt like you were mine."

"No!" she screamed. She stood up and knocked over her chair as she did. She ran from the room and Sawyer stood up too.

"How could you do that to her?" he mumbled.

"Tell her I love her," Sam said softly. Sawyer turned around and ran after Kate. She was half way down the parking lot to the car when he reached her. He stopped her and pulled her toward him.

"Sawyer," she sobbed. Sawyer wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He hushed her, but didn't say anything.

The drive home was quiet and when they got back to Kate's house Sawyer walked her to the door and kissed her goodnight. Kate looked at him with somewhat pleading eyes.

"What can I do?" he whispered.

"Make it all go away," she said, kissing his lips and lifting herself up of the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her to her room. He tossed her onto her bed and crawled over her. For the time being Kate forgot about everything. She let Sawyer take her away to the place where there was nothing but the two of them.

They were laying in each other's arms. Sawyer was kissing her cheeks and continued to give her soft, loving kisses. She looked at him and frowned.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"I'm sorry Kate," he said softly, brushing her hair away from her face. "I'm so sorry. I can stay as long as you want me to."

"I-" she began. "I just want you to hold me all night. I just-I can't believe that my dad isn't my dad. Maybe that Wayne guy is a better guy…my dad was never that great of a dad anyway."

"What do you want me to do honey?" he asked softly.

"Just hold me."

The next day Sawyer spent the day with Kate. They spent the day watching TV and talking. Kate felt so much better after talking to Sawyer and she totally lost track of time, and totally forgot about hanging out with Jack. Kate was in the kitchen making popcorn when the doorbell rang.

"Hey Freckles!" Sawyer exclaimed. "Bring the popcorn!"

"Ok!" she yelled back. "I'll be right there!"

Kate was wearing her sheet wrapped around her body. She opened the door and saw Jack standing in front of her. She gasped softly to herself and rubbed her forehead.

"Jack," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I totally forgot. I just-things with my dad, let's just say things didn't go well. Sawyer was here to make me feel better. We kinda lost track of time."

"I see that," he mumbled.

"Jack," she sighed. "I'm telling the truth. He-look…I know this looks bad, and I know you're probably mad, but honestly…I found out-look…I found out that Sam isn't my dad. At least biologically. I was really upset and I didn't want to be alone today. But if you want to stay…we're watching movies."

"No thanks," he scoffed.

"Jack look," she began. "I know this is hard, and awkward, but-I really would like you to stay too. I want-I want us back…just like I said yesterday. I-I just found out that my father isn't my father…aren't you even going to say anything?"

"Kate," he started. "Of course-I'm-I'm sorry. It's must really-I have no idea what you're going through. I really wish I could say something to-but nothing I say is even going to help you. I'm so sorry."

"See?" she shrugged. "Just what I needed Jack. Please stay."

"Nah," he shook his head. "I just-I'm not ready to see you and Sawyer like that together. I know you've been together for like 6 months, but I just-it's just too hard still."

"Ok," she whispered. "Can we rain check till tomorrow then?"

"Yeah," he nodded. Jack left the house and Kate walked back into the bedroom. She put the bowl of popcorn between her and Sawyer and laid down next to him.

"What did Jackass want?" Sawyer asked.

"I was gonna go over there tonight," she answered. "I totally forgot. I just-I feel pretty crappy Sawyer. I mean…he really seems to want to try and make us work. I mean us as friends. It's just-Sawyer we were best friends…and I just-"

"Kate it's ok," he chuckled. "You already told me that you were going to be hanging out with him. I trust you. As long as you trust me."

"What?" Kate asked.

"Well, I kinda told Claire that I would hang out with her tomorrow," he stated. "I mean-Claire's going to be taking care of Aaron, and she just-she misses me I guess. I dunno. I just think that it's all gonna be ok. So are you ok with me going there?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

The next day Kate went to Jack's and Sawyer went to Claire's. It was pretty much the first day that Kate and Sawyer didn't spent together throughout the entire 6 months. Sawyer walked up the steps to Claire's house. He wasn't sure why, but he was actually sort of nervous. He was completely in love with Kate, but for some reason Claire could still give him butterflies. He knocked on the door and Claire answered it quickly.

"Mommy!" Aaron screamed from behind her. He was about a year and 4 months. Sawyer forgot how big he had gotten since prom last year. Prom was coming up again already. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Hey," Sawyer said.

"Hey," Claire chuckled. "Aaron…it's time for bed."

She put her hands on her hips, but was smiling at the child. She picked him up and started carrying him back up the stairs. Sawyer walked into the house and looked around. It had been over a year since he set foot in Claire's house. He heard Claire coming back down the stairs and looked up the stairway.

"Hey," she smiled.

"You already said that," he stated. "So-uh-what do you want to do?"

"Aaron will be screaming for me any minute," she responded. "But while we're waiting we can watch TV."

"Claire, I'm really sorry," he said.

"For what?" she asked. "It's my fault that we're not together. It's my fault that I cheated. If I hadn't do you think we would still be together?"

"I really don't know Claire," he sighed. "All I know is that I love Kate. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry that I pretty much dumped you at prom. I mean I know we were going as just friends anyway, but I shouldn't have done that to you. I shouldn't have-"

"And I shouldn't have had sex with another man Sawyer," she interrupted. "I mean Sawyer. It's ok. I know how much you loved her. I saw the way you looked at her. And you still love her-I mean don't you?"

"She's my world," Sawyer said with a slight smile, and a slight frown. "But just because I fell in love with Kate…I still-I mean, you're still my first love, and nothing will change that."

"You're mine too," she whispered. She leaned toward him and kissed his lips. He backed away quickly and shook his head.

"Claire," he said.

"I'm sorry," she shook her head. "I suck."

"You definitely don't suck," he chuckled. "I just-Kate."

"I know," she nodded. "I'm really sorry."

"It's ok," he answered.

* * *

Kate and Jack were laying on his bed, as usual. They were playing cards and watching a movie. Jack made her forget about her dad too. She was glad that they were friends again. His parents were fighting worse than ever, so she suggested that he could come over to her house more often to escape it. He admitted to missing his friendship with Sawyer too. Jack spent most of his time alone now that he wasn't friends with Kate or Sawyer.

"I'm leaving!" Christian yelled.

"Go!" Margo screamed. "See if I care!"

"It's almost better this way," Jack mumbled. "He'll leave for a couple hours…or maybe even all day. But then-he'll come back."

"Are you sure?" Kate asked. "He seemed pretty serious that time. Jack I'm sorry that I haven't exactly been here for you this year."

"Well," he began. "I haven't exactly been open to wanting your friendship either. I've kinda-I dunno. You and Sawyer are kinda-I dunno."

"I know it must be hard," Kate said looking at her hands. "I can't imagine what it's like. I just-I'm so sorry I hurt you."

"It's alright," he shrugged. "I guess it was sort of my fault. I kinda pushed you into his arms. I wanted him to take care of you while I was gone. It's not really your fault that you fell in love in the process."

"I love you too Jack," she answered. "I just-I had to know if me and Sawyer were real…and turns out…we are."

"Do you ever think about what might have happened if I hadn't have gone away for that entire summer last year?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I think about it a lot Jack. Especially lately."

"Why?" he asked. "Did Sawyer do something? Did he-"

"No," she shook her head. "I just-there's something not right. I love him so much, but it's like-I almost feel like we've lost all our passion."

"What did I walk in on last night?" Jack asked with a smirk.

"Well," she replied turning slightly pink. "Sex doesn't always have to do with passion Jack. I love him, and I know he loves me too, but it's just-sometimes I feel like he's angry at me."

"I know he loves you," Jack answered. "You'll get it back. Actually…I'm kinda tired. Why don't you go home and call him."

"Jack, I don't-" she started.

"I need to go talk to my mom," he sighed. "Make sure that she's alright. But Kate it's ok. We're ok. I promise. We're ok."

"Ok," she nodded. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

Kate knew that Sawyer would still be at Claire's, but she decided to call him on her way home anyway. She didn't know whether or not he would answer the phone. It rang 3 times.

"Hello?" Sawyer said. "Kate?"

"Hey," she said with a smile. "What's up? You still at Claire's?"

"No," he replied. "I'm not there. I'm actually-well where are you?"

"Walking home," she answered.

"How far away are you?" he asked.

"5 minutes," she stated.

"Ok," he responded. He hung up and Kate looked at her phone somewhat confused. When she got to her house Sawyer was waiting on the front porch. He picked her up and kissed her softly.

"Don't hate me ok?" he asked.

"What?" she questioned, furrowing her eyebrows and almost terrified at what the answer might be.

"Claire kissed me," he answered. "And I'm only telling you because you deserve to know. I wasn't-I didn't kiss her back, and she apologized so don't be mad at her either…I just-I just thought you should know."

"I miss you," she whispered.

"We're together all the time," he chuckled.

"I know," she sighed. "But not really. I mean-sometimes when we're sleeping right next to each other I feel like you're miles away."

"I'm right here sweetheart," he whispered.

"I know," she sighed. "I just-I sometimes feel like you're mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed and put her hands to her face. "I know I'm being dumb, I just-I'm scared, and since the stupid pregnancy scare things haven't been the same between us. I feel like you think it's my fault, and I did it on purpose, and I just-I just want you to love me like you used to."

"I do," he sighed. "God Kate, I'm sorry. I love you so much. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't," she shook her head.

**A/N: Ok…so thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews! I love all of you. There's gonna be some major Skate angst in the next chapter, and some Jate and Conmama as well. I hope you all enjoy it. Please please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

Kate and Sawyer were at school eating lunch. He was sitting next to her and smiled at her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes and shook her head.

"What?" she asked with a smile.

"I was just thinkin' how gorgeous you look right now," he replied. "So what do you say? I think we should blow off our afternoon classes and go down to the abandoned chem lab, and make hot sweet love all afternoon."

"No," she said, after a moments of hesitation. She smirked at him and he let out a soft chuckle. He took her by the hand and pulled her over to his lap.

"I think you were seriously thinking about my little proposition Ms. Austen," he whispered. "Naughty naughty girl."

She rolled her eyes, but kissed his lips and moved back over to the chair she was sitting in.

"So what are we doing tonight?" he asked.

"Actually," she sighed. "I'm sorry Sawyer…I didn't know-I sorta made plans with Jack. Y'know his parents are having a really hard time, so he's gonna come over and escape for a little while. I mean…I can ask if it would be ok for you to come too-"

"No thanks," he shook his head. "I'll pass. Maybe I'll just go to Claire's so she can kiss me again."

"Sawyer," she scoffed.

"Ok," he whispered. "I just-it doesn't matter. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

**1 Week Later**

Kate and Jack had been hanging out a lot more lately. Sawyer had shown some jealousy, but for the most part didn't really care. Kate was laying on her bed waiting for Sawyer to come back from walking Claire home. Claire and Aaron had spent the night with them. When she heard the door open, she looked up and saw Sawyer standing in the doorway. He walked toward her and took her face in his hands. He kissed her roughly and laid down on top of her.

"Sawyer," she mumbled. "Don't."

"What?" he asked. "What's the matter?"

"Just don't," she said shaking her head. "You spent the whole night flirting with Claire."

"Flirting?!" he exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

"I just don't really feel like being touched by you right now," she scoffed.

"What the hell?" he asked. "I didn't even do anything. I didn't do anything to you."

"Exactly," she sighed. "I don't want to be stupid and jealous, but-you didn't pay attention to me all night. You were too busy talking to Claire and playing with Aaron. I just-I don't feel like you even love me anymore. Are you still in love with Claire?"

"What?!" he exclaimed.

"Well are you?" she asked. "I mean it's ok if you are-"

"Are you in love with Jack?"

"No!" she exclaimed, almost too defensively.

"Right," he scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that Freckles. Whatever lets you sleep at night. But I'll be man enough to actually tell you the truth. Claire was my first love Kate. I loved her so much. She made me-I dunno. She changed me for the better, and I'll always care about her, but just because I love her…I love you too. I'm in love with you…but even though you won't admit it…I know that you love Jack. And I can't compete with that. You've been in love with him for our whole lives. So be pissed off all you want, but at least I know the truth.

He stood up off the bed and headed toward the door. She got off the bed too and ran after him.

"Wait," she whispered.

"What?" he asked, turning toward her and frowning. "I don't see how the hell this is gonna work if we don't trust each other."

"Don't leave," she said, raising up on her toes and kissing him softly. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry. I love you. I love you James."

He picked her up carefully and carried her to the bed. He put her down and crawled over her. She looked up at him and shook her head.

"You're right," she whispered, trying hard not to cry, but not succeeding. "I still love him…but I love you too Sawyer. I don't-I can't-if we're not together I don't know what I'll do."

"Shh," he shook his head. "I just wanted you to admit it to me Freckles. I just wanted to know the truth. I'm sorry that I'm such a jerk…you deserve so much better than me. I'm no good. And I treat you like crap."

"At least you know it," she whispered, and then smiled. "I love you."

**1 and a half Weeks Later-**

It had been one year exactly since Kate made her choice. It was prom once again, but this time it was different because they were seniors. Kate walked down the steps at her house to find Sawyer standing in front of her waiting. Jack, Shannon, Boone, and Claire were all meeting them there, but weren't there yet. Shannon and Jack were going together, as friends. Boone and Claire were going together by default. Neither of them were particularly excited about being one another's dates.

"Freckles," he whispered. "Look at you."

"Hey," she smiled and stepped into his arms.

When they got to the dance they were all sitting together and seemingly having fun. Kate had just gotten the news that she was going to be the valedictorian, and they all made a toast to her. Sawyer seemed distracted for most of the night. They all danced and laughed until prom was almost over.

Kate realized that Sawyer wasn't anywhere to be found. She looked around the room, and thought maybe he could be in the bathroom, so she decided to give him a few minutes. After a few minutes passed she got up to start looking for him. Claire and Boone were in the middle of the dance floor dancing and seemed to actually be having fun.

"Claire," Kate cleared her throat. "Um…have you seen Sawyer?"

"Yeah," she answered. "He's actually right there."

Claire pointed toward where Sawyer had begun walking toward them. Kate smiled at Claire and Boone and walked over to Sawyer. He was frowning.

"Hey," she said furrowing her eyebrows. "What's the matter?"

"Nothin'," he mumbled. "Can we go? I just-"

"You want to go?" she asked. "Why? I thought we were-"

"You can stay for all I care," he scoffed, his tone turning almost mean. "Just stay here…I'll go home by myself."

"Sawyer stop," she said grabbing his hand. "What's the matter?"

"I just don't want to be here anymore. I want to just go home. You stay here with all your other smart friends and I'll just go home," he murmured.

"James," she whispered.

"Don't!" he yelled. Everyone around them stopped what they were doing and looked toward them. Kate's face turned red from embarrassment and pulled him toward her.

"Have you been drinking?" she asked smelling his breath.

"Yeah," he answered. "Got a problem with that, little miss ivy league? If I do recall I've picked you up off your ass from being drunk numerous times so I can have a little bit of liquor at my own senior prom…oh but wait…I'm not a senior."

"Sawyer what are you talking about?" Kate asked.

"I'm a screw up…always have been…_always_ will be," he answered. "I'm not graduating. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Sawyer stop," she whispered. "Just tell me what's going on."

"What we both have known from the beginning," he mumbled. "We-us-we can't ever work because I'm never going to be good enough! I can't take care of you! I can't even take care of myself. So I'm setting you free."

"I don't want to be set free," she answered, trying to be quiet, so people didn't hear, but that didn't really matter because the music had stopped and even the DJ was listening to their conversation. "Sawyer, I love you…why are you doing this?"

"Because when I'm with you I feel like a loser!" he yelled.

"But you're not-" she started.

"That's just it Kate! With you I am! You're going to college and getting out of here, but that's not me! I'll be here the rest of my life! We're done."

"What?" she scoffed. "No! You've had your little outburst and now it's my turn. How dare you make me feel guilty over graduating at the top of our class. I've worked really hard for this and you're not going to take it away from me. As for you being a loser, the only thing that's making you a loser is your behavior tonight."

"I don't love you anymore," he said quietly. Kate let out a quiet sob and pushed her way through the crowd. She heard a few people gasp and whisper under their breaths about what Sawyer had just said to her. She left the building and sat down on the steps. She felt someone come up behind her, but she knew it wasn't Sawyer. Part of her wanted nothing to do with Sawyer ever again, but the other part just wanted his comfort. He was really good at giving comfort. She felt a small hand on her shoulder and looked up at Claire.

"He shouldn't have done that to you," Claire whispered, sitting next to Kate. "In front of all those people."

"Maybe he's right," she mumbled. "Maybe it's my own fault, for making him feel that way. I just-Claire all I know is I love him. And part of me wants to punch and take out all my anger on his face, but the other part of me…this is our prom. It was supposed to be special. And instead I get dumped…and he tells me that he doesn't love me."

"Well we both know that's a lie," Claire replied. "Did you see how much he was shaking? He definitely still loves you. I don't know why he would act that way."

* * *

Sawyer walked out another door from Kate and headed home. He heard footsteps behind him, and didn't have to turn around to know that it was Jack.

"There ya go," Sawyer mumbled. "She's all yours Jack. You can go pick up the pieces of her broken heart. It is after all what you wanted isn't it?"

"For you to dump her in front of the entire senior class?" Jack asked. "No. Definitely not happy here. Why would you say those things to her?"

"Because it's true," Sawyer shook his head. "Since she got the news about her having the highest grade point average-Jack I just feel like I'm not good enough and I'll never be good enough. She deserves someone who's going to be able to take care of her. Just like you said. You'll be able to buy her whatever she wants. I can't buy her a diamond bracelet."

"Don't you remember her telling you that money doesn't buy happiness?" Jack asked. "She wants you there by her side. She doesn't want just some rich guy."

"But she's in love with you too Jack," Sawyer sighed. "And she'll be in love with you forever. I can't do it anymore. I can't stay with her, knowing that eventually she'll just change her mind. In 5 years when she's all done with college and you're going off to med school…she's gonna realize that you're the only one who will be able to take care of her the way she needs. So go ahead…go comfort her, and tell her it'll be ok."

"I think _you_ should," Jack shook his head.

**4 Days Later**

They were at school. Kate and Sawyer hadn't seen each other or spoken since prom. She had seen Jack in the halls a few times and nodded at him. She missed Sawyer so much, but at the same time she was still so pissed at him for what he said to her at prom. Claire continued to assure her that Sawyer hadn't meant it and she should try and make up with him, but Kate refused to talk to him unless he made the first move. She was standing at her locker and felt someone come up behind her. She turned around and saw Sawyer.

"Hey," he whispered and sighed.

"Hi," she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "What's up?"

"C-can I-I need to talk to you," he mumbled. "Would that be ok? I mean-we ditch second period and just talk? Please?"

"Ok," she whispered.

"Ok?" he asked slightly shocked that she agreed.

"I kinda want to know what the hell happened," she sniffled. "So yeah."

They walked outside and down the street. They walked in silence till they got to Kate's house which was the closest house out of all of them. Both of them started to talk numerous times, but neither of them knew how to begin the conversation. When they went up the stairs and into Kate's bedroom Sawyer sat down on the bed and let out a long exasperated breath. Kate sat down on the floor and looked up at him.

"Kate I'm so sorry," he shook his head.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Me too."

"I never-I shouldn't have done-" he stammered. "I love you so much-"

"I kinda find that hard to believe," she said coldly. "If you loved me you never would have done-"

"I do," he sighed. "Kate I didn't know what to do. Everyone was congratulating you on your valedictorian…and I'm not even graduating."

"I still don't get that," she answered. "And if you were having such a hard time then why wouldn't you have told me? I mean you could have talked to me about it, we could have-"

"There's nothing you could have done," he interrupted. "And I didn't want to burden you with my problems."

"Sawyer that's what a relationship is all about," she argued. "When something is going on in your life…good or bad, you talk about it…I could have at least helped you deal with it. I mean I loved you so much, and you broke my heart."

By this time Kate was crying softly. She wiped her cheeks franticly trying to hide her tears from Sawyer, but it was too late and he saw them. He slid down on to the floor next to her where she was sitting.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I never meant to hurt you-I was just-Kate all these stupid thoughts were going through my mind…about how you were going to get out of here, and leave me."

"I told you already," she sniffled. "You were going to come with me."

"I can't-" he shook his head.

"Why not?!" she exclaimed. "You claim to love me, but you must not love me that much if you don't even want to try and make us work."

"Kate, I have tried," he sighed and closed his eyes. "I've tried to forget about you leaving me. I've tried to forget about our differences and just love you-"

"Differences?" she asked. "We're almost the same person Sawyer. Sometimes I can't even think of one thing that we don't have in common. Your parents were screwed up and so were mine. I just-all I know is that I need you."

"I need you too," he whispered. "But as my friend-I can't have you-I'll never have you completely."

"What do you mean?" she asked frowning and looking at him with begging eyes. "What are you talking about? You have me…you have all of me."

"No," he shook his head. "I don't…because a piece of you…in fact a rather large piece of you will always always love Jack."

"What about you and Claire?" she asked. "If I can get over the fact that you're always going to love Claire, then you-"

"Well you're a bigger person than me Kate," he sighed. "Because I can't share your heart."

"Please," she whispered. "I thought you were taking me back here so we could make up…so you could apologize for hurting me, and we'd make up and get back together."

"I am sorry," he answered. "I am Freckles-"

"What am I gonna do without that?" she half sobbed. "I can't handle not hearing that nickname."

"Freckles, you'll always, always and forever be my Freckles," he whispered. She leaned toward him and kissed his lips. He kissed her back at first and then backed away.

"No," she shook her head. She crawled on top of his lap and kissed him again. "We never got to say goodbye."

He kissed her back and ran his hands down her back, and rested them on either one of her thighs. She sucked on his tongue and then tore his shirt off over his head. He stood up, and lifted her up with him. Her legs automatically went around his waist. He gently laid her down on the bed, and then kissed her down her neck and collar bone. He took it very slowly and kissed her all over her body until they were both naked and vulnerable. Even though they had done it before and knew every square inch of each other, and they knew what each other liked, it was almost like it was the first time again. Kate and Sawyer looked at each other in the eyes as they moved together, in perfect unison.

Sawyer rolled off of her and it was the first time that they didn't reach for each other. Kate put her hands to her mouth and stifled a sob.

"Did we just break up?" she asked, with the lump dangerously in her throat, ready to let her cry like a baby any minute.

"I think we did," he whispered.

"I'll miss you," she said flipping toward him to look at him.

"Me too Freckles," he replied running his fingers over her jaw. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.

**A/N: OK…so I know that break-up sex never actually happened in the show Dawson's Creek, but it just felt right, and I feel like it's something that both Sawyer and Kate would do. I also was going to put more Jate and Conmama in this chapter, but I didn't really find room, or need…but next chapter will definitely feature both. Please R & R!!**


	15. Chapter 15

It was the day after graduation. Sawyer had stayed away from the school the last week. He didn't bother to take finals because he wasn't graduating anyway so he didn't see the point. He walked up the steps at Claire's house and hesitated slightly before knocking. She opened the door and smiled at him.

"Hey," she whispered. "You ok?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "Claire, I'm a wreck. I just-can I stay here for a while?"

"Yeah," she nodded. Sawyer walked into the house and noticed several suitcases in the hallway, however most of the house was still intact.

"Goin' somewhere?" he asked softly.

"We're going to Australia for the summer again," she answered. "I wanted to tell you-I just-"

"Can I come with you?" he asked suddenly. "I just need to get out of here Claire. I need-I need to get away."

* * *

Kate looked at her diploma and then at the medal they gave her for winning valedictorian. She turned the medal over in her fingers and sighed to herself. She still missed Sawyer, but she knew that they would never get back together. There was a soft knock on the door and she quickly stood up to answer it. When she flung the door opened Jack was standing in front of her.

"Congratulations Kate," he said softly. "I didn't see you yesterday after graduation."

"I know," she nodded. "I just-I had to get out of there. Hearing-not hearing his name-I can't believe he didn't graduate."

"Yeah," he whispered. "I know. Listen Kate…I know we've been through the ringer and-I'm not asking you for anything. I just think we should-I dunno keep each other company over the summer. And maybe-I mean Shannon could use some friends too. Everyone just sees her as the stuck up, rich, snob."

"Yeah," she answered. "Well we have the entire summer."

Jack smiled at her and reached out to take her hand.

**1 Month Later**

Sawyer and Claire got back together while they were living at her house. Claire's mom had shown a complete transformation and barely flinched when Sawyer would come home and kiss her. Sawyer and Claire would be returning to the US, at the end of the summer. Claire was going to be going to the community college near Columbia University, which just so happened to be where both Kate and Jack were going to be going to school. Sawyer decided he'd follow Claire, and they could get an apartment together along with Aaron of course. He'd take care of Aaron while Claire was in class. He also thought maybe he'd take some classes at the university so he could at least earn his G.E.D. Claire and Sawyer were alone at the house. Claire's mom had taken Aaron to the park. The was a harsh knock on the door and Sawyer got up to answer it.

"Christian?" he asked.

"Sawyer?" Christian mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here with Claire and her mom," Sawyer answered.

After much discussion, and tears from Claire, it was determined that Christian Shephard was in fact her father. She couldn't believe it. It almost made her feel a little sick because she had a slight crush on Jack when she first met him. She screamed at her mother that night when she got home, and the rest of the 3 months that Sawyer and Claire spent in Australia were rather awkward.

**3 Months Later**

Sawyer and Claire stepped in to their new apartment. Claire's mom decided to just stay in Australia. They began unpacking their stuff and played with Aaron to keep him occupied. Sawyer had almost gotten used to the idea of being a father. Even though there was no way in hell he'd let Aaron call him daddy, he was starting to feel like a father figure to him.

"I'm gonna go down the street and get some coffee. You want?"

"Sure," she nodded. She smiled at him and he disappeared.

Kate and Jack had spent the entire summer getting reacquainted. Both of them decided that it was best if they took things slowly. They hadn't had sex yet, and at the moment were only kissing. Kate got used to it. She and Jack moved in together too, but they had separate bedrooms for the time being. She was sitting on the couch waiting for Jack to bring in a particularly heavy box, which he was having great difficulty with. He had recently gotten a letter from his father containing a check for 50,000 dollars, plus the information that Claire was his half sister. He couldn't believe it, but knew that she had gone to Australia for the summer. He didn't know that she was living 4 doors down from them.

"Jack, I'm gonna go down to the coffee shop, ok?" she asked.

"Kate I don't think-" Jack began.

"I've been getting your advice for 4 months Jack, and I haven't taken it yet," she smirked. "I'll be fine. Do you want something?"

"Cappuccino?" he asked.

"You're always so difficult," she chuckled. She walked past him and kissed him quickly on the lips.

When Sawyer got to the coffee shop he saw her standing at the front counter. Even though it was just the back of her head he knew the freckles on the back of her neck. He got nervous but decided now was as good a time as any to say hello.

"Hey Freckles," he whispered. Kate dropped her coffee that she had just taken from the clerk. The clerk gave her a somewhat annoyed look, but turned back to make her another coffee. Kate fixed her hair before turning toward him.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, noticing her swollen stomach.

"Hello to you too," she said, turning red.

"Kate," he said furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's yours. And I'm keeping it."

"Were ya even gonna tell me?" he asked. "I mean-a little heads up woulda been nice."

"You disappeared!" she exclaimed. "The day I bought the test I went to your house to tell you and so that you could maybe be there for me and hold my hand. When I got there I was informed by your grandmother that you went to Australia with Claire for the entire summer. You didn't bother to tell me. I didn't even know if I'd ever see you again. And plus don't you think this is something you should say in person rather than over the phone."

"Are you even sure it's mine?" he asked. "I mean Jack-"

"We haven't had sex yet," she answered quickly. "Look…I'm sorry-I gotta go."

"Wait a second Freckles."

"No," she shook her head. "I can't."

"You sure as hell can!" he yelled, grabbing her by the arm. "What's-what's gonna happen? Do you want me to just stay away? Because now that I know about this-how the hell do you expect me to stay away from you?"

"I love Jack," she replied. "That's how."

"Well I'm with Claire," he scoffed. "That don't mean that I just forget about you and our kid."

"Do you really want to be part of my baby's life?" she asked.

"_Our _baby," he growled. "And what the hell do you think?"

"I'm making chicken casserole tonight," she whispered. "Come over and we'll talk."

"Where do you live?" he asked gently.

"Glenridge Apartments, number 4."

"Well ain't that just perfect," he said sarcastically. "Glenridge Apartments, number 8."

"See you at 6:30?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah," he nodded.

Kate left the coffee shop and Sawyer went back in to order his coffee. The walk home he kept going over the events in his head. If they hadn't had break-up sex would she have gotten pregnant anyway? When was the last time they had had sex before then? He remembered that last time like it was yesterday. They both knew it was over, but it was also pretty much the best sex he had ever had in his life. He went into the apartment and immediately Claire knew something was wrong.

"What happened?" she asked quickly.

"You'll never believe who our new neighbors are," he said. "Kate and Jack."

"Really?" she asked. "That's weird! I wonder if he knows I'm his sister."

"I dunno," he shrugged. "I ran in to Kate. She invited us for dinner."

"Do you really wanna go?" she questioned. "I mean it might be a little awkward."

"Baby, you have no idea," he shook his head. "But yeah…I'm gonna go. You and Aaron are invited too."

"Well," she sighed. "Maybe I should go. You know-talk to Jack about-well you know."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Claire there's one more thing I gotta tell you…um-Claire, Kate's pregnant."

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"I know," he sighed. "I don't-I ran into her in the coffee shop and she's-she's pregnant. She told me that she and Jack haven't-the baby is mine."

"Oh my God," she whispered. "What are you going to do? Are you getting back together with her?!"

"No," he shook his head quickly. He put his hands against her face and leaned in to kiss her gently. "Claire no. I'm with you now. She's with Jack. And it'll be really screwed up and crazy and-I dunno, he's your brother so he's gonna be my brother too I guess."

"W-what?" she asked softly.

"Jeez," he said, sounding exasperated. "I wasn't-I was gonna wait-but hey…now is as good as time as any. Claire, you're my first love. And I don't think you ever get over your first love. I knew I loved you the moment we kissed. I loved you all through last year, and while I loved Kate too…you were always in the back of my mind."

"What are you saying?" she questioned.

"Dammit this is supposed to be romantic, no interrupting," he said still obviously nervous. "What I'm saying Claire-will you marry me?"

He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it. It looked like a 3 year old made the ring and she looked over at Aaron who was looking up at them curiously.

"When I get my GED and get a better job, I'll get you something better," he whispered. "But for now, you'll have to take this hunk of metal that me and Aaron made. So anyway-"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. She took the makeshift ring out of the box and put it on her finger. It was way too small, but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his lips.

* * *

"You invited them for dinner?" Jack asked.

"What was I supposed to do Jack?" she questioned. "I mean Sawyer does deserve-"

"Sawyer doesn't deserve anything!" he exclaimed. "Not after what he did to you!"

"He-" she sighed. "He apologized. He loved me Jack. And I loved him…still do. And now a little baby-this baby will always be partly Sawyer, whether you want to like it or not. If you want to break up over this then fine, but the father of my baby actually wants to make some sort of effort…I'm going to let him."

"You're right," he grumbled. "I know. I know you're right Kate. I just don't want to see you or the little one getting hurt."

"I know he won't hurt me," she answered. "Because you won't let him…and you'll be here for me forever, just in case Sawyer isn't."

"I give it a month," Jack replied. "But if it'll make you happy."

"What would make me happy, is if I didn't have to go through this awkward dinner tonight," she chuckled. "But I know that Sawyer really meant it. He wants to stay in the baby's life. I want my baby to know his or her real father."

"Well who will she or he be calling daddy?" he asked.

"I really-Jack, I don't know…and I don't want to talk about it anymore. They'll be here any minute."

**4 Months Later**

Kate was 8 months pregnant. They were all just finishing finals, and their first semester of college. Kate thought that it would be hard to be so young and pregnant, but it surprised her how many people were actually supportive. She was thrown several baby showers to help her prepare for the baby. She didn't want to know what she was going to have. Sawyer surprisingly went to all of her doctors appointments with her, along with Jack. Claire and Sawyer were starting to plan their wedding. Claire had asked Kate to be her maid of honor. After Kate was done crying she graciously accepted. Later that night Claire and Sawyer were discussing whether Kate had been crying because of being pregnant or because she was upset that Claire and Sawyer were getting married. Jack knew that Kate was somewhat jealous at the wedding of Sawyer and Claire, and he decided to propose too. Of course Kate thought that it was a pity proposal, until she saw the ring Jack had bought.

Jack and Kate were sitting on the couch discussing baby names. Kate was leaning against Jack's shoulder with her hands firmly on her stomach.

"I like Zachary for a boy," she said quietly.

"So your son will be Zach and your husband will be Jack?" he chuckled.

"So what?" she scoffed.

"Have you talked to Sawyer about names?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," she nodded. "But I don't think he really cares that much."

"Kate, what will the baby call me?" he questioned. "I know it sounds so dumb, and lame, I just-I love you so much, and I love this baby. I don't care if the baby isn't mine, I already kinda feel like it is. Because I'm the one who's been here with you. I mean Sawyer's been here too, but he doesn't rub your feet when they're sore or go on midnight runs to the store because you have a craving for ice cream and olives…which by the way ew."

"Well maybe he'll be more involved once the baby is born."

"I just don't want to be waiting in the wings while you and Sawyer fall back in love. Having a kid together changes things."

"Yeah," she nodded. "But Jack, things changed the second I found out that I was pregnant."

"I know."

* * *

Kate and Jack were waiting in the waiting room for a room. Kate was in labor, but only in the first stages. She knew that she had a while before the baby was born. She had called Sawyer and left a message on his voicemail. It was Christmas Eve.

As soon as Sawyer heard the message he called Claire from his car and told her that he was going to the hospital. By the time he got there Kate was already in a room. He got directions as to where she was and ran to her room. When he got there Jack was holding her hand through what looked like a rather painful contraction.

"You!" Kate exclaimed. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Well how bout you wait till after you give birth," Sawyer chuckled. He walked over to her other side and looked at Jack somewhat awkwardly. Even though they were pretty much friends again, it was still very weird. Sawyer looked down at Kate who was keeping all her attention on Jack. He was slightly jealous, but he took her other hand and squeezed it to let her know that he was there too.

"Ok," the nurse said coming into the room. "Let's have a look."

After a few minutes of silence the nurse muttered to herself and then looked at Kate with a smile.

"Are you ready to be a mommy?" she asked.

"I dunno," Kate half sobbed.

"You are," the nurse continued with a smile. "Now only one of them can go into the birthing room with you."

"Jack don't leave me," she said grabbing his arm. Sawyer was taken aback, and almost mad that Kate wouldn't want him to see the birth of their own kid. He scoffed softly and started walking away from the bed. Then Kate let go of Jack and shook her head. "Don't leave the hospital Jack. I love you…but this is for Sawyer to experience."

Sawyer chuckled softly, went back to the bed, and took Kate by the hand. They wheeled Kate into the other room, and while Jack was insanely jealous that Sawyer got to be the one to comfort Kate, he understood. He knew that he would have his own chance to be in the delivery room.

Kate was holding on to Sawyer's hand tightly. He looked down at her and kissed her on the forehead.

"You're doing great," he whispered.

"Sawyer," she started. "I want to thank you. Thank you for being here. And thank you for wanting to be part of the baby's life."

"I think the baby should call Jack, daddy," he replied.

"What?" she asked. "Why?"

"Kate push," the nurse stated.

"No," she answered. "Sawyer tell me what the hell you're talking about."

"Kate, if you don't push, it's going to hurt the baby…push," the nurse said sternly. Kate did what she was told. She only had to push a few times before the nurse was telling them that they had a baby girl. She put the baby up on Kate's chest and Kate started crying. Sawyer smiled at her and squeezed her hand again. Kate sniffled and looked up at him.

"Look," she whispered. "Look at how beautiful she is Sawyer."

"Yeah," he mumbled.

**20 Minutes Later**

Kate was in the recovery room. Sawyer was still sitting with her, and Jack had gone to get Kate food and a magazine from the store, not from the hospital.

"I want to know what you meant," she said softly. "Why would our baby call Jack, daddy?"

"Because," he shook his head. "It's just gonna get too confusing. I will come see the baby all the time…I mean I obviously live right down the hall, and in a couple weeks when classes start back up for you and Jack, I'll take care of the baby."

"Sawyer," she chuckled. "First of all, I'm taking a semester off to take care of the baby. And this baby will be calling _you_ daddy…whether you like it or not. And by the way I want to see her…can you hand her to me?"

The baby was in a baby bed right next to Kate's bed. But Sawyer got up and handed her the baby. He sat down on the bed next to her and ran his hand across Kate's face and through her hair.

"What do you want to name her?" he whispered.

"It's still Christmas Eve," she smiled.

"You wanna name her Christmas Eve?" he asked.

"No," she smirked. "But how about her middle name can be Eve."

"K," he nodded.

"How about Mary?" she smiled.

"Mary Eve?" he asked, with a slight face.

"What's wrong with that?" she asked. "Wasn't your mom's name Mary?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "But I really don't want our daughter to be connected to that. Mary Ford was murdered…Sam."

"Sam?" she asked. "Sam is a boy's name."

"Samantha Eve," he answered. "Sammy."

"It's cute," she smiled.

"I don't want to over take it," he shrugged. "I don't even have to name her…just an idea-"

"No," she shook her head. "She's just as much yours as she is mine…Samantha Eve. I love it."

Sawyer kissed her on the cheek and then kissed the baby too.

"I gotta get home to Claire and Aaron," he whispered. "See you later."

Kate nodded and watched him leave. When Jack got back to the room he looked at Kate and smiled widely. He walked over to her and kissed her on the lips. She looked down at the baby and then looked back at him.

"Samantha," she replied. "Sawyer named her. He told me that he wanted her to call you daddy."

"Well Kate, you know that I'm ok with that," he said. "I'll do whatever you want."

"That's really nice and everything," she partially chuckled. "But there's no way in hell I'm going to go for that. Sawyer is her daddy. I know that it kills you, and you wish that it wasn't, but just don't take it out on Sammy…she didn't choose her daddy…I did."

"If you had it to do over again would you?" Jack asked softly.

"Honestly?" she shrugged. "No. I have a gorgeous little girl out of it. I have no regrets."

* * *

Sawyer got home and when he opened the apartment door Aaron ran into him and clung on to his leg. Sawyer chuckled softly and picked him up.

"Daddy!" Aaron said.

"James," he corrected him. Claire smirked and walked toward the two boys. She lifted herself up on her toes and kissed Sawyer on the lips.

"How's Kate?" Claire asked.

"She's good," he answered. "Especially considering."

"Considering what?" Claire asked.

"8 pounds 10 ounces," he answered. "22 inches long."

"Girl or boy," Claire smiled.

"Girl," he responded. "I didn't want to say it in front of Kate, but that was probably the ugliest baby I've ever seen."

"James Ford!" Claire exclaimed.

"I'm sure she'll get cuter," he shrugged. "But for now…damn. She definitely won't be the cutest baby in the nursery."

"You're horrible," Claire said with a click of her tongue. "We should go see them tomorrow. What did she name her?"

"I named her actually," Sawyer said somewhat proudly. "Samantha. Sammy."

"I like it," she said softly.

The next day Sawyer, Claire, and Aaron went to the hospital to visit Kate and Sammy. Aaron had bothered Sawyer numerously to pick him up, so he finally gave in. He carried Aaron into Kate's room. Kate was laying in her bed, and Sawyer could tell she was crying. He handed Aaron back over to Claire and silently told them to leave. He walked over to the other side of Kate's bed and looked at her.

"Sawyer," she sobbed.

"You ok Freckles?" he asked, kneeling next to her.

"Jack-" she began.

"What the hell did he do to you?" he snapped. "I'll kill him."

"Thanks," she continued to sob and cry. "But he didn't do anything. We're still engaged and we're still in love…he had to leave…he had to go to work…but the baby. I-Sawyer…Samantha. She's-"

"What?" Sawyer asked frantically. "What happened? Is she ok?"

"Sawyer, she's-" Kate stuttered. "She's so ugly."

Sawyer let out a chuckle, which was also a sigh of relief. He put his hand against her shoulder and nodded.

"Yeah I know," he nodded.

"Sawyer!" she sobbed. "You're supposed to tell me I'm crazy."

"Well you are," he answered. "Don't you worry, definitely crazy lady…but you're also right. Our daughter isn't exactly gonna win Miss America anytime soon…but it's ok…all babies are ugly. You shoulda seen a picture of me the day I was born. And I turned out ok did I not?"

"Yeah," she whispered, smiling slightly and looking at him. "You turned out more than ok. I just-why didn't you tell me yesterday that she was ugly."

"Yeah that would have gone over real well," he said sarcastically. "'Sawyer isn't she beautiful?…no, she's ugly'. I think you would have kicked me out of the hospital and half way home."

"You're probably right," she nodded. "But she'll get cuter right?"

"I promise…with parents as hot as us…" he answered.

**A/N: OK…so this was very jumpy I know. I could have ended it in several different places, but none of them seemed right. I hope that you're all ok with it. It will remain Jate and ConMama (unfortunately…lol). As many of you may know I'm very anti-Jate, but I will keep writing it. I will try my best. But it will probably only be a couple more chapters, because it is so hard to write. As for all my Skaters…I know you are probably disappointed to hear that it's ending Jate, but I had to add a little frimples baby! Because that would seriously be the most gorgeous baby I've ever laid eyes on. I will make it pretty in the future, but I think it's funny when parents think their baby is the prettiest thing ever, but really it's ugly. So this is kinda the opposite…Kate and Sawyer know their baby is ugly, but it'll get cuter. Anyway enjoy and review!!**


	16. Chapter 16

Sawyer was standing in the front of the church. Jack and Kate were sitting in the front row. Kate was still the maid of honor and Jack was the best man. Kate was holding Sammy and Jack was making sure that Aaron stayed in his seat. Claire walked down the aisle and when she reached Sawyer, they took each other by the hand. Kate had never seen Sawyer look so happy. She was happy for him, and even though she was engaged to Jack, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Claire was marrying him. Half way through the ceremony Sammy started crying, so Kate stood up to leave the church. She heard people coming out of the church behind her and looked back. Claire and Sawyer were running out of the church along with everyone else. She stood up and stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to the church. Sawyer reached her and sighed. He took her face in his hands and ran his thumbs over her cheek bones.

"You ok Freckles?" he asked softly. So softly in fact that only she heard him.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm fine."

She leaned against his shoulder and let out a chuckle, although it sounded more like a sob. He backed away from her and looked at her slightly confused.

"You sure," he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I just-I'm just tired."

"Lemme take Sammy tonight," he said softly. "That's why you're so tired. You always try to do everything yourself."

"No way," she said shaking her head and smiling. "It's your honeymoon. I can't let you take the baby tonight. Congratulations Sawyer."

"Thank you," he smiled. "I love her so much."

"I know," she nodded. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

Sawyer and Claire went on their honeymoon to Chicago. Sawyer still felt guilty that they weren't able to have a real honeymoon, but Claire insisted all she needed was him. Aaron stayed with Jack and Kate. Kate stayed at home all day while Jack went to work and classes. Sammy was only a couple months old. She was a happy baby for the most part, and Sawyer was right, she got much cuter. She had dark blue eyes, much darker than Sawyer's, and blonde curly hair. She had lots of freckles sprinkled over her nose and cheeks.

"Kate!!" Aaron screamed. She had just gotten the baby to sleep, but as soon as Aaron yelled, Sammy woke up and started crying. Kate let out an annoyed grumble and stood up. She picked Aaron up and put him down on the couch.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked, getting into his face. "You woke up the baby!"

"I'm sorry," he said, starting to back away, and immediately starting to cry. Sammy was crying and screaming, so Kate walked over to where Sammy was taking her nap and picked her up. She walked back over to the couch and sat down next to Aaron.

"Aaron," she shook her head. "I'm sorry-"

"No!" he exclaimed and ran out of the room. He slammed the door to the bedroom he was sleeping in and Kate could hear him crying through the walls. Kate stayed sitting on the couch rocking the baby. As she sat there listening to both Aaron and Sammy cry, she really felt like crying too. The door opened and Jack looked at her. He sighed softly and sat down next to her.

"How was your day?" he said somewhat sarcastically.

"Aaron's been bugging me all day," she shook her head. "I just snapped at him. He woke up Sammy."

"Do you want another baby?" he asked.

"What?" Kate asked, somewhat shocked. "Jack I'm only-"

"I know how old you are," he interrupted. "You're 19...but do you ever want another baby?"

"I dunno," she shrugged. "Let's just go talk to Aaron."

"What?" he asked. "What do you mean? You're just going to drop the question? You're not gonna give me a straight answer?"

"Jack, I don't know," she answered. "Why do I have to know right now how many kids I want?"

" I just want to know if you actually want to marry me," he whispered. "I saw the look on your face when you were watching Sawyer and Claire get married. You're really jealous of her. You want-you're still in love with him. You want him back don't you? Just tell me the truth."

"Jack," she sighed. "Don't."

"Tell me!" he exclaimed. Sammy, who had just started to doze off again was startled by Jack's voice and started crying again.

"Thanks a lot," she whispered. She got up and carried Sammy into her and Jack's room. Since Aaron was staying in Sammy's room, Sammy was sleeping in Kate and Jack's room. Kate set her in the crib and rubbed her back gently.

"Shh," Kate said quietly. "It's ok…daddy will be home soon."

Thankfully Sammy went to sleep quickly and Kate stood up to go talk to Aaron. She knocked on his door softly and then went in. Aaron was laying on the floor sucking his thumb. He had stopped crying, but he still looked upset.

"Aaron," Kate sighed. "Aaron, I'm sorry ok? I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just tired too. And I wanted Sammy to sleep."

"I miss my mommy and daddy," he frowned.

"I know," Kate nodded. She sat down next to him and picked him up to put him on her lap. She rocked him slowly and rubbed the back of his head. "I miss them too. I thought he didn't want you to call him daddy. I thought he liked Sawyer better."

"Daddy," he said softly.

"Well, I guess he is the only daddy you've ever known," she whispered. "I just told Sammy that he'd be home soon…and he will be."

"Mommy too?" he asked.

"Mommy too," Kate chuckled. Kate sat with Aaron for a few more minutes and then put him down on the floor. He was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor. Kate told Claire that she could just stay the night in their apartment with both the kids, but Claire insisted that Aaron slept on the floor most of the time anyway so he would be fine on the floor.

"Do you want me to read to you?" she asked.

"Yes please," he said quietly. Kate read him two books before he was finally sleeping. She stood up off the floor and went back into the living room. Jack was sitting on the couch and looked up at her.

"Thanks for just walking away from me Kate," he scoffed. "Nice to know that you care about us."

"Shut up," she shook her head. "My daughter was crying…because of you anyway. And I already made Aaron cry, so I was trying to comfort him too."

"I like that," he chuckled "_My _daughter."

"What's so funny about that?" she asked. "She is _my _daughter. Mine and Sawyer's. You're not related to her. You don't even give a crap about her. You told me that you were going to love her. You told me that you loved me and so you would love my daughter, but you weren't telling the truth."

"I do," he sighed. "I do love you…and I'm trying to love Sammy too…it's just-she looks exactly like him. Every time I see her all I can see his him all over you."

"I love him," she whispered. "I loved him."

"That's not what you said," he argued.

"What?" she asked.

"You just said 'I love him'," Jack answered. "You love him."

"Jack I always will," she sighed. "He's one person in my life that I won't ever stop loving…because I love Sammy…and Sammy is partly Sawyer."

"I love you Kate," he whispered. "I want to marry you…but if you want Sawyer-"

"I don't," she shook her head. "Sawyer is married. I'm happy that he's happy. But you don't understand. I have a baby with him…so whether you like it or not…he'll always be a part of me."

That night Kate and Jack were laying in bed together. They were laying on opposite sides of the bed, but Jack flipped toward her and pulled her closer to him. He ran his hand down her body and she flipped toward him. She looked at him and kissed his lips.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just-sometimes I can't stand that he had you first."

"I know," she nodded.

The day that Sawyer and Claire came home, Claire was sick. She was at their apartment while Sawyer went to pick up Aaron and Sammy from Kate and Jack's house. Sawyer knocked on the door. When Kate opened the door Aaron was clinging to her leg and she was holding Sammy.

"Daddy!" Aaron gasped. He quickly let go of Kate's leg and jumped into Sawyer's arms. Sawyer chuckled and hugged him back.

"Hey, were you good for Kate?" he asked.

"No," he answered. Sawyer let out another chuckle, and followed Kate back into the apartment. He sat down on the couch without waiting for an invite from Kate.

"Sawyer," she whispered. "I really wanted to apologize to you."

"For what?" he asked.

"For how I acted at your wedding," she shook her head. "I was-I was crazy. I-ok I'm gonna tell you something but you have to promise me that you won't mention it to Jack."

"Ok," he said quietly.

"Daddy," Aaron started. "Where's mommy?"

"Your mommy isn't feeling good," he answered. "She's back at our place. We'll go see her in a minute."

"Ok," he sighed.

"So what's going on Kate?" Sawyer asked.

"I thought I might be pregnant," she answered. "I know that you probably don't want to hear about that, but-"

"Kate, you and Jack are engaged," he chuckled. "I knew that eventually you'd be starting to make babies."

"Well pretty much as soon as the doctor told us it was ok-" she started. "Anyway, I thought that I might be pregnant, and I really didn't want to be…I mean it's not that I don't want kids with him, because I do, but Sammy-she's only 2 months old. I mean someday-y'know when we actually have a life…we can have a family."

"Did you tell him?" Sawyer asked.

"I just told you I didn't want to tell him," she answered. "I don't want him to get all pissed off at me."

"Kate, he loves you," he whispered. "He loves you…he'd understand if you wanted to wait to have another baby."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"We were best friends for 10 years," he replied.

**3 Months Later**

Kate was waiting for Jack to get home from school. Sawyer had taken Sammy for the night. It was the night before Jack and Kate were going to be getting married. Jack walked through the door and looked at Kate. He walked toward her and kissed her lips.

"Hey wife," he whispered.

"Hi," she smiled.

"So Sawyer has the baby all night right?" he asked, leaning in and kissing her neck.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Jack, I want to have kids with you. I promise. I just-just not now. I want to wait till Sammy is old enough to sleep through the night. I don't want to be pregnant and still getting up with her. Do you understand?"

"Of course I do," he sighed. "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk lately. I just keep seeing the way that you look at Sawyer, and I'm afraid you're gonna leave me."

"Not gonna happen," she shook her head. "We're soul mates Jack. I love you."

"I love you too."

**THE END**

**A/N: So I was gonna make it one more chapter, but I liked where this end. I hope you all enjoyed it. I know that I didn't make it very Jatey, but I feel like I'm not as good at writing Jate. I hope everyone is satisfied. Please please review!!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: This is for JateSkateFate…a small little ending for Conmama. **

**2 Years Later**

Sawyer walked through the front door and collided with Aaron. Aaron was crying, so Sawyer picked him up and looked at him.

"What's the matter?" Sawyer asked softly.

"Mommy hates me," he sobbed. Sawyer put him down and walked into the bedroom. Claire was laying in bed and looked up at Sawyer. Sawyer walked over to her side of the bed and put his hand against her forehead.

"What's up Mama?" he questioned.

"Aaron's driving me crazy," she whispered. "And Sammy's coming tonight and I'm just so damn tired. Can you ask Kate if she can stay there for the night?"

"What's the matter?" he asked. "You ok?"

"This baby hates me," she answered. "She's never coming out!"

"Darlin'," he chuckled. "I promise…yes she is. You can't be pregnant forever."

"I think I'm gonna be," she frowned. "Kate already has three kids! When can I?"

"Soon," he answered. "Plus…Kate's weird. And she had twins…they were like a month early. And she needs a break from Sammy. Sammy's in her terrible twos…she's a brat."

"You better not call our daughter a brat," she said, putting her hands protectively over her stomach.

"Only if she is," he shrugged. "And I'm sure she won't be."

"I love you," she whispered.

"Baby, I love you too," he answered. "But if you keep acting all crazy I'll take Aaron and Sammy, and we'll stay at a hotel for tonight."

"Ok," she mumbled. "Fine. Do that…and when I go into labor you can just miss the birth of our daughter."

"Sweetie pie, you gotta stop," he shook his head. "You're making yourself crazy."

"I am not crazy!" she exclaimed.

"I know," he whispered. He leaned in and kissed her lips. She kissed him back and then backed away and frowned.

"I'm sorry," she stated and hook her head. "I am crazy. I-I just want this thing out of me."

"I know," he chuckled. "Don't worry. It'll happen. Now I'm gonna go get Sammy ok?"

"Ok," she said quietly.

Sawyer went down the hall to Kate and Jack's apartment. When Kate opened the door both the twins were crying and so was Sammy. Sammy was sitting on the floor throwing a tantrum. Kate looked at him gratefully. He chuckled and walked into the apartment. He picked up Sammy who as soon as she realized that it was Sawyer she hugged him tightly.

"Daddy," she sobbed.

"Sam," he whispered. "What happened?"

"Jack hit me!" she exclaimed.

"He did not," Kate sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Sammy was acting up…she hit Noelle and so Jack told her no…and she was being a very bad girl, so Jack gave her a spanking."

"So he did hit her," Sawyer argued.

"Sawyer, it wasn't very hard-"

"I don't care," he shook his head. "Since when is it ok for Jack to discipline our kid?"

"He's her parent too," she answered. "I'm sure that Claire has punished her."

"She's never hit her Kate," he scoffed. "Goodbye."

He left the apartment angerly, taking Sammy with him. She had settled down when he got back. He sat down on the couch and held her.

"I don't like Jack," she said with a sniffle.

"Well I ain't too fond of him right now either," he told her. "Don't worry. I'm gonna make it all better…I'm gonna go kick-"

"Sawyer!" Claire exclaimed.

"What?" he asked, watching Claire walk out of the bedroom.

"My water just broke," she answered.

"Ok," he said. "Don't panic."

"I'm not," she answered calmly. "I just need to get to the hospital."

He stood back up and carried Sammy back down to Kate's apartment. Aaron, and Claire were following closely. He knocked on Kate's door and she answered right away. The twins were still crying and so was Kate.

"What are you doing here?" she sniffled.

"Claire's water broke," he whispered. "What happened Kate? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Can Sammy and Aaron stay?" Claire asked.

"Yeah," Kate nodded. "Of course."

Sawyer put Sammy down, but she clung to his leg.

"No daddy!" she exclaimed.

"Kate, what the hell is going on?" he asked. "Why is she so scared to be here?"

"She's not scared Sawyer," Kate scoffed, and picked Sammy up.

"I swear to God Kate, if Jack ever touches her again I will knock him so hard on his ass, he won't be able to work for a month," he said sternly. "I would stay and talk, but Claire needs me."

Sawyer took Claire by the hand and they walked down to the car.

* * *

When Sawyer came back the next day Claire wasn't with him. He knocked on Kate's door, and knew that Jack would be gone. She opened the door, and looked much happier. There were no crying babies either. Sawyer stepped back out and looked at the number outside of the door.

"Am I in the right place?" he asked sarcastically.

"How's Claire?" she whispered.

"She's fine," he answered.

"And the baby."

"Good too," he replied. "7 pounds 4 ounces. Olivia."

"I don't know why I let him spank her," she mumbled somewhat abruptly.

"We said we weren't going to punish her that way," he said softly. "It just sorta pisses me off."

"I know," she nodded. "I'm just so confused and I'm stressed out because of the kids, and I just let him deal with it. I'm sorry."

"Sorry I yelled at ya," he answered. "I just-why does he have to get involved?"

"Because he's my husband," she shrugged. "I'm sorry Sawyer. I won't let it happen again. I'm just stressed-"

"You said that already," he smiled.

"I'm pregnant," she said putting her hands to her face. "Noelle and Jenny are only 3 months old. I can't have another baby right now-I just-I don't know what to do. It's why I've been all emotional lately."

"Come here," he whispered. He opened his arms and she fell against him. "Have you told him?"

"No," she mumbled. "Not yet. I guess that's why I let him-"

"You gotta tell him Freckles," he said.

"I know," she nodded. "I will."

"I'm gonna take the kids to go see their sister."

"I wanna come too," she smiled.

They all went back to the hospital. Sawyer lifted Aaron up so he could look in and see the babies. Sawyer pointed to Olivia and Aaron giggled.

"She's all wrinkled! Like a grandma," he said.

"Yeah," Sawyer chuckled. "Just don't say that in front of your momma."

"Why not?" Aaron asked.

"Because it will hurt her feelings," Sawyer answered.

"My turn!" Sammy exclaimed. Sawyer put Aaron down and then picked Sammy up. Sammy looked in on the baby and then whined and pressed her face against Sawyer's neck.

"Sammy," he chuckled.

"I'm not the baby anymore," she sobbed.

"No, but you get to be a big sister now," he said. "And you weren't the baby anymore when mommy had the twins."

"I know," she continued crying. "But you and Claire will love Liva more!"

"No we won't," Sawyer shook his head. "That's not even possible."

Sawyer and everyone else made their way to Claire's room. Claire wasn't sleeping and got really excited when she saw everyone. Sawyer walked over to the bed. He smiled at her and bent down to give her a kiss.

* * *

4 days later, everyone was home from the hospital. Sawyer was staying home with Claire for the time being. Aaron was at school, in kindergarten, so Claire was gone picking him up from school. A lot of times Kate would come over and bring the kids with her, but for now Sawyer was there with just Sammy. There was a knock on the door, and Sawyer stood up to answer. Jack was standing in front of him and sighed softly.

"What?" Sawyer asked somewhat harshly.

"Sawyer, I came to say I was sorry," Jack answered. "I-that's how I was punished as a kid. I didn't-I shouldn't have-I just didn't know what to do. She was being a brat…don't you ever-"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I sometimes feel the urge to smack her upside the head…but I don't! And I would never hit Noelle or Jenny. They're your kids…not mine."

"I know," Jack replied. "I just-everything's been really crazy at our place lately. And Kate's been-I dunno acting weird. I think something's wrong and she won't talk to me. She's been coming here more lately. She talks about you a lot, and about how you spend all this time-are the two of you sleeping together."

"No!" Sawyer exclaimed. "You think I could do that to Claire? Hell no. And Kate-man she loves you…just talk to her. She's fine. And we're definitely not sleeping together."

"Like you'd tell me anyway," he mumbled.

"Jack!" Sawyer half yelled. "Snap out of it! We're friends. We're finally back to being best friends I thought. Best friends don't do that kind of crap."

The baby started crying so Sawyer stood up and went over to the basinet. She was a very pink and prissy baby as Sawyer would say. Her basinet was lined with white lace. He picked her up and Sawyer carried her over to the couch. He rocked her slowly and looked at Jack.

"She's amazing," Jack whispered looking at the baby.

"Tell me about it," Sawyer answered. "She's perfect. I've never seen such a gorgeous baby in my life."

"What about Sammy?" Jack asked.

"When Sammy was first born I don't think I have to remind you that she wasn't exactly the prettiest baby in the world," Sawyer replied. "I mean as much as I love her…Olivia is definitely prettier…at least for now. Anyway back to your problems with Kate…you know damn well that I wouldn't do that to you…and neither would she."

"I know," he whispered. "But if it's not that…what is it? Why won't she talk to me?"

"Because," Sawyer sighed. "Look…I can't tell you…Kate talked to me about it, and I told her I wouldn't say anything. So you just need to ask her yourself about what's going on. She'll tell you. I promise. Go home right now."

That night Sawyer and Claire were laying in bed. Claire was sleeping and Sawyer was watching her. Sawyer heard Aaron in his room. He got up to go check on him. Aaron was sitting on the floor playing with some of his cars. Sawyer sat down in front of him.

"Hi daddy," Aaron whispered.

"Hi Aaron," Sawyer said. "What's up buddy? It's late."

"I'm just playing," he answered.

"Come on," he sighed. "Get in to bed."

Sawyer picked him up and put him on the bed. Aaron looked up at him with a slight frown.

"Sammy's right," he said softly. "You will love the baby more than us."

"Aaron," Sawyer shook his head. "There is no way. You are mommy's first baby. She will always love you first."

"First is worst, seconds best," he said, with tears coming into his eyes. "You always say that to Sammy."

"Only when you try and get into a race with her," Sawyer answered. "And she's littler than you. Aaron I promise you…Mommy and me love you so much. And since you're the first born we've loved you for longer."

"Really?" he asked.

"You, Sammy, and Olivia…and even Noelle and Jenny," he continued. "We're all one big family. The Shephard's and the Ford's…and I love all of you equally."

"But I'm not yours," Aaron sobbed. "I saw my thing…that paper thing."

"Your birth certificate?" Sawyer asked.

"I guess," he shrugged. "I asked mommy, and she said you weren't really my daddy."

"I'm sure she didn't say that," Sawyer answered. "I can't see your momma saying that to you. But I'll explain something to you. There's something called blood related…but then there's family. Kate and Jack…they're not really my brother and sister, but they feel like it…well ok…maybe Kate doesn't feel like my sister because that would just be gross, but we're all like one big family like I said before. And we love each other, and take care of each other…and that's way more important than blood. Because your blood daddy…he was a meanie, and you wouldn't want him to be here anyway."

"Was he mean to me?" Aaron asked.

"I hope not," Sawyer whispered. "But I don't know for sure. He wasn't very nice to your momma though so that's why he's all the way in Australia."

"Where's that?" he questioned.

"Far far away," he replied. "Now go to bed. I promise in the morning we'll go do something with just the boys."

"No icky girls allowed?" he asked.

"No icky girls allowed," Sawyer nodded. "But someday you won't think girls are so icky."

"Nuh uh!" Aaron exclaimed.

"Ok, no more stalling…go to bed," he said. He went back into his and Claire's bedroom and found Claire awake and smiling. He had left the bedroom door opened, and figured that she might have heard some or all of what he said to Aaron.

"I love you so much," she said shaking her head in awe. "I like what you said too…the difference between blood and family."

"Well as you know I never really had a family," he replied. "So you, Aaron, Sammy…all of you are my family.

"I wish that my mom could see us now," she answered. "She said that she thought we'd never make it."

"We sure showed her," Sawyer said quietly, kissing her lips and pulling her closer.

**Now it's really THE END. **

**A/N: PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**


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